A Long Way From Sunnydale
by druplusspike
Summary: AU 7th year. Buffy Summers is tapped to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts at Hogwarts. When the students and staff of Hogwarts start acting erratically, it's up to Buffy and Severus Snape to solve the mystery.
1. Chapter 1

"Well, it's…castle-y," said the young blonde woman, pushing her sunglasses onto her head. She didn't even know why she wore them since it was overcast.

"Definitely castle-y," said the redhead. "I'd even say it's turret-y."

"I'm really going to go to school here?" squeaked the youngest girl.

"Well," said the man cleaning his glasses, "Since you've gotten your letter, yes." He checked his watch, "We'd better hurry, the meeting will be soon and negotiating the halls can be…treacherous."

"Treacherous?" said the blonde. "What does he mean by 'treacherous?'"

"I read in _Hogwarts: A History_ that the rooms move sometimes and there are trick stairs and loads of secret passages," said the redhead.

"Wait, there's a book?" asked the blonde. "I didn't know there was a book! Was I supposed to study?"

"Dumbledore doesn't seem to think that knowledge of Hogwarts is necessary for teaching there," replied the man.

"It's a shame that Xander couldn't come," said the youngest.

"Maybe it's the best," said the blonde. "If he came Anya would come and we don't really know the Hogwarts's stance on former vengeance demons."

"Or former dark witches," said the redhead nervously.

"The Board of Directors is aware of your history," said the man. "They considered you completely rehabilitated and believe that you have proven your merit with your service at the Hellmouth."

The group had walked down the path to a set of stairs and enormous double doors. An old man with a long white beard stood watching them with piercing blue eyes.

"Hello, Rupert," said the man merrily.

"Albus, it's good to see you again," said Giles as he shook hands with Dumbledore. "This is Willow Rosenberg, Buffy Summers, and Buffy's younger sister, Dawn Summers. Dawn has been accepted as a student at Hogwarts,"

"Yes, I recall seeing the list of new students. You're very lucky, Dawn, very few students ever see Hogwarts outside of the school year."

"Shall we go in?" asked Giles.

"Yes, everyone is looking forward to meeting our potential new professors." Albus turned and the doors opened slowly. "Follow me and be sure to watch your step," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Buffy and Willow glanced at each other before being absorbed by the splendor of the entrance hall. The ceiling was so high that they could barely see it. There were four hourglasses that were filled with golden, green, red, and blue gems. They were all in the top chambers of the hourglasses since no one had earned any house points.

Giles obviously had been to Hogwarts before as he was completely collected.

They followed Dumbledore up a wide marble staircase and through a door where they turned right. They passed several classrooms before they came to another staircase that they climbed up.

"Uhm, Buffy?"

"Yes, Dawn?"

"Is it just me or are the people in these portraits moving?"

Buffy stopped and looked. "Yeah, I think they are."

"They're enchanted to move," explained Giles.

"Cool," said Dawn and thought, _I wonder how big a bag I'd need to steal one?_

They made a left and then another right into an empty corridor with a stone gargoyle. Dumbledore walked up to it and said, "Sugar quill."

"Will, what's he doing?" asked Buffy.

"Certain rooms at Hogwarts are password protected, watch!"

Buffy looked up just in time to see the gargoyle step aside, revealing a circular staircase gliding upward.

"Wow," said Dawn, "Just like the mall! Only much more convenient. And better! Much, much better than the mall…" Dawn trailed off.

Dumbledore just smiled at her.

They rode up the staircase until they reached a landing with a dark wooden door that was open. They entered a large circular room with a table in the middle.

Four people were sitting at the table—a woman with frizzy grey hair, a very short bearded man, a woman with black hair pulled back in a tight bun, and a man with a chin-length curtain of greasy black hair.

_Yikes_, thought Buffy, _Isn't shampoo allowed in the magical world?_

She looked up and saw the man glaring at her and she had to bite back a snicker.

"These are Professors Sprout, Flitwick, McGonagall and Snape. They are the respective Heads of Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, Gryffindor, and Slytherin houses. Additionally, Professor McGonagall is the Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts."

"Hello," said Buffy and Willow.

Dumbledore conjured four chairs for Giles, Buffy, Willow, and Dawn.

"Please, sit down. We have much to discuss."

"Thank you." They sat in the squashy chairs.

"Are you ready to start recording, Minerva?" asked Dumbledore.

"Yes, sir," said Professor McGonagall. She picked up a quill and put it to a piece of parchment and then let it go, where it hovered, ready to write.

"We're here at the Headmaster's office on 15 August 1997 to determine the competency of Miss Buffy Anne Summers and Miss Willow Rosenberg to begin teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts and Muggle Studies, respectively, at Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Present at the meeting are the four heads of houses, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, Rupert Giles, Buffy's watcher, Buffy Summers, Willow Rosenberg, and Dawn Summers, Buffy's sister who seems to follow her wherever the hell she goes," said Professor McGonagall, the quill recording everything.

"Let's start with Miss Rosenberg," said Dumbledore

"Hello, Miss Rosenberg," said Professor Sprout. "Can you describe your experience in the muggle world for us?"

"Well, I was born in it. I went to school in the muggle world and I've just finished four years of college."

"Have you ever worked in the muggle world?"

"Yes, I've tutored students in high school. I also covered a computer science class for a semester when the teacher died."

"When did you discover magic?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"When I was sixteen. The teacher who died, she was of gypsy descent and a technopagan, and I learned magic from her records."

"So you have experience with learned magic, common muggle magic? What makes you think you could survive in the wizarding world" interjected Professor Snape.

"Well, I can clearly survive in the wizarding world. I can see Hogwarts, that's a start. Most muggles can't even see Hogwarts—"

"I am aware of that," hissed Snape.

"Severus!" said Professor McGonagall, "We have already discussed at length whether or not Miss Rosenberg and Miss Summers will be safe at Hogwarts. The fact that they were able to get there is proof of that. Please stick to relevant questioning."

Willow shifted uncomfortably in her and snuck a quick glance at Buffy. Buffy gave her a surreptitious thumbs-up. The meaning was clear, _You're doing ok_.

"I don't think it's irrelevant to question their ability to function in the wizarding world," said Snape irritably.

"Severus, you have made your thoughts on the matter more than clear," said Dumbledore in a tone that made it clear that the subject was closed.

Buffy caught herself glaring at Professor Snape. Who was he to judge whether or not Willow could function? She knew that Willow would excel in the wizarding world.

"Miss Rosenberg," continued Professor McGonagall, "Did you specialize in any particular subject while studying in the muggle world?"

Willow brightened up.

"Yes, in high school I focused on computer science and the biological sciences. I'm very skilled with computers, things like obtaining records and hacking into systems and things like that which you would never need because you have magic to do that stuff for you and I wouldn't do anything illegal, anyway…" Willow trailed off, looking panickedly at Buffy.

"What I think Willow means is," said Buffy, interjecting for the first time, "Once, when we were in high school we found out that the mayor was really a century-old warlock that was planning on turning himself into a giant snake demon and feasting on the whole town. Willow was able to get the floor plans of the mayor's office so we could break in and steal his box of spider-demons that he needed for the ritual. And I know this sounds really bizarre but Willow is really great at that sort of thing. She would never use her computer skills for bad."

Professor Snape looked like he wanted to say something snarky but something stopped him, probably a quick glare from Professor McGonagall.

_Who does this guy think he is?_ Thought Buffy.

"Thank you, Miss Summers," said Professor McGonagall. "Please continue, Miss Rosenberg."

"Well, in college I majored in psychology with a minor in biology. I even got to study with Maggie Walsch, a famous psychologist. That would have been great if she hadn't been working with the government on a secret plan to make an android-demon hybrid. I just graduated college with honors."

"Miss Rosenberg, you spoke of having experience with teaching. Can you control a classroom? What would you do with a student who was misbehaving?" asked Professor Flitwick.

"I was able to control a classroom when I taught computer science, even though I was the same age as the students. I've had to deal with some troublemakers before. This one student I tutored, Percy, wanted me to do the work for him, but I think in the end I got through to him. What I try to do is find out why they're misbehaving and solve that problem."

There was a brief pause.

"Are there any further questions?" asked Professor McGonagall.

Everyone shook their head "no."

"Miss Summers," began Professor McGonagall, "Let me just say that we have examined your academic records and they were…interesting. Your behavior at your past schools would have led you to be expelled from Hogwarts were you a student here. What do you have to say about that?"

"My behavior in the past was inexcusable. But in my defense, I was just trying to get my job done. I had a lot of constrictions, I had to put up a façade and act like I was everybody else when the truth couldn't have been further from that. Yes, I broke the rules but I saved a lot of lives doing so."

"You burnt a gym down," said Professor Snape.

"Yes, but it was full of vampires. I did what I thought was best. You know, everyone always mentions how I burnt down the gym, but no one ever mentions how many times I saved the world."

Buffy was trying to keep from losing her temper but this man irritated her to no end.

Snape's dark eyes flashed. "How many times have you saved the world?"

"Well, I don't exactly keep track, but off the top of my head; I stopped the Master from rising, he was like the king of the vampires, very old and very icky. I died doing that, by the way. I stopped him from being resurrected, too. I stopped the Judge from destroying all humanity. I stopped the demon Acathla from sucking us into a hell dimension, while killing my boyfriend who had turned evil. I blew up the mayor after he turned into a snake demon-thing and saved a lot of lives. There was that thing in college with the Vahrall demon. I stopped the demon-android Adam, which, by the way, Willow helped a lot with her Sumerian enjoining spell. I've heard that that's a bit of tricky magic. And I stopped Glory from turning our dimension into hell on earth, I died during that too."

Buffy stopped.

"Is that enough? And Giles is teaching me magic, I'm catching up really fast."

"And Buffy has stopped a lot of minor apocalypses too," interjected Willow.

"Have you ever taught in a classroom setting before?" asked Professor Sprout.

"Not so much, but the Scoobies, uhm, those are my friends that slay with me, they've learned a lot about fighting and stuff."

Buffy struggled. _I sound so lame_, she thought. She thought she noticed a slight smirk on Professor Snape's face. _Is he reading my mind?_

"She's taught me a lot," said Dawn.

Everyone stared at her as she spoke for the first time.

"She's taught me loads, not just about Slaying but about life."

Buffy chanced a glance at Willow. Willow smiled at her and gave her a thumbs-up this time.

The room was silent again.

"Are there any further questions?" asked Dumbledore. "If there are none, I'd like to adjourn this meeting. It was very interesting meeting you, Miss Summers and Miss Rosenberg."  
"Thank you, Headmaster," they both said.

"We will owl you the results of our deliberations. Rupert, you must come over for lunch sometime, too, while you're on the island."

"Yes, of course," said Giles, shaking Dumbledore's hand.

As they left, when Dawn thought no one was looking, she stole one of the magical mechanisms off of Dumbledore's table and put it in her bag.

"Well," said Buffy as they stepped out of the castle. "That was bracing."

"I think you did admirably well," said Giles.


	2. Chapter 2

The explosion didn't happen until after the door was closed.

"It is inconceivable that you would hire that idiotic, bumbling, blonde to teach defense against the dark arts!" exclaimed Severus, his eyes flashing dangerously.

"I liked her," said Professor Sprout briskly.

Professor McGonagall nodded. "She has remarkable composure for a girl her age."

"She's practically a child," said Severus.

"She's practically the same age you were when you started teaching here," said Dumbledore serenely.

"I have watched for years while you hired less qualified people while passing over me. Quirrell, Lockhart, that dangerous half-breed Lupin, Dolores Umbridge!" Snape listed. "I will not sit idly by and allow you to hire this teenager."

He hissed the last word. Red patches were appearing on his cheeks.

"Severus, you know why I will not hire you to teach defense against the dark arts and I stand by my decision. As to preventing Miss Summers from being hired, what do you intend to do to stop it?" asked Dumbledore. "I'm afraid the decision is not up to me but your fellow Heads of Houses. Do you intend to duel them all?"

"I'd like to see him try," said Professor McGonagall, drawing herself up to her full height and looking at Severus severely through her glasses.

"It's unpatriotic," said Severus.

_You're grasping at straws_, he thought.

"Pardon?" said Professor McGonagall.

"It's unpatriotic. It sends the message that we can't find any qualified teachers in Britain so we had to go to," he winced, "America to find a girl that would be better suited for the shopping mall than the classroom."

Severus did not expect Dumbledore's reaction. Which was laughter. He laughed merrily, as though he hadn't heard anything so funny in a long time.

"Oh, Severus, that beats the joke I heard about the hag, the vampire, and the kneazle. But that's not for here," Dumbledore said, wiping tears from his streaming eyes.

Severus fumed silently.

"You're right though, Severus," said Professor McGonagall quietly. "She doesn't belong here. She doesn't fit in. Maybe she'll brighten the place up. These are dark times, we could all use some laughter."

Severus harrumphed.

"In light of her…record," said Professor Flitwick, "Perhaps we could hire Miss Summers for a probationary period of one semester. At the end of the semester we could evaluate her behavior and performance."

"Shall we vote on it?" asked Dumbledore.

Everyone except Severus voiced their assent.

"All for appointing Miss Summers as the temporary professor of defense against the dark arts?"

"Aye," said Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout.

"All opposed?" asked Dumbledore.

"Nay," said Severus.

"Then it's settled, Miss Buffy Summers will be the new professor of defense against the dark arts. Now about Miss Rosenberg?"

"She's more than qualified," said Professor Flitwick.

"Yes, she is," said Severus, "If one of her students irritate her she'll just flay them."

Dumbledore frowned. "I would not have considered Miss Rosenberg for a position here if I did not have full assurances from the coven in Westbury and from Rupert Giles of her progress and rehabilitation."

"She is clearly a witch of great power and she's beyond qualified to teach muggle studies," said Professor Flitwick.

"She's killed," said Severus.

"You were a Death Eater," said Professor McGonagall.

Severus sighed.

"We may need her here, her and Miss Summers, if things are going to be as bad as you think they are," said Professor Sprout, glancing at Dumbledore.

Dumbledore nodded.

"In order to be fair, perhaps we should consider a probationary period for Miss Rosenberg as well?" asked Professor Sprout.

Professor McGonagall nodded in agreement. "I think that's an excellent idea. Shall we vote?"

Everyone except Severus nodded yes.

"All for appointing Miss Willow Rosenberg as the temporary professor of muggle studies?"

"Aye," said Professor McGonagall, Flitwick, and Sprout.

"All opposed?"

"Nay," said Severus.

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "Minerva, would you please write Miss Summers and Miss Rosenberg informing them of their appointments?"

"Yes, sir," said Professor McGonagall.

"Then I declare this meeting adjourned," said Dumbledore.

The four Heads of House filed out of Dumbledore's office. Severus was the first out and was on his way to the dungeons before the others left.

_I've failed_, he thought. _Well, I won't make it easy for her_, and he smiled at this thought.

The room in The Leaky Cauldron was littered with clothing.

"Wow," said Buffy as she walked into Xander and Anya's room. "I thought you were going to wait to find out if I had the job _before_ moving in?"

"Oh, we don't care about that. We just came to talk to the owners of Slug and Jiggers about—"

"Anya!" said Xander. "Remember, we care deeply about whether or not Buffy and Willow get this job?"

"Oh, yes," said Anya, "We care deeply about whether or not you get the job and will be interested when you tell us about it in detail over dinner."

Buffy was too used to Anya to be offended.

"Besides," said Xander, "If Buffy and Willow get the job then maybe we could move the Magic Box here."

"Why do we have to move just because they move?" asked Anya.

Xander sighed. "You might be able to get a shop in Diagonal Alley—"

"_Diagon _Alley," Willow corrected.

"What I said. I bet there's a much bigger market for magical supplies here than in Sunnydale."

"And then I can make more money!" said Anya excitedly. "I'm sorry Buffy, I really do care about whether or not you move here. Get the job."

"Thanks," said Buffy. "When do you think we'll hear from them?" she asked Willow.

"I don't know. They said they had to deliberate."

"Meaning Professor Snape will do anything he can to keep us from being hired. What was his deal? I really didn't like him."

"I don't know," said Willow. "Maybe he doesn't like people that have lived with muggles. He _is_ the head of Slytherin house."

"Well, he gave me a case of the wiggins, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on him."

"Giles is familiar with the wizarding world, maybe he knows about him?"

Giles and Dawn entered at that moment.

"Speaking of," said Buffy.

"Speaking of what?" asked Giles.

"We were just talking about you," said Willow. "We were wondering if you knew about Professor Snape and what his deal was."

"Oh, him," said Giles.

"Out with it, what do you know?" asked Buffy tilting her head.

"Well, I've never met him before today, but he's supposed to be very brilliant and very unpleasant."

"I got a bad vibe from him," said Buffy.

"So did I," said Willow.

"Let's just say all three of us were creeped out by him. He's not going to be one of my teachers is he?" asked Dawn.

"He will be, I'm afraid. He teaches potions, though he's always wanted to teach defense against the dark arts. That could account for some of the unpleasantness."

"It was something more than that," said Willow. "He's into some serious dark magic isn't he?"

"Like you were that one time!" said Anya.

Everyone turned and stared at Anya.

"What? I'm contributing to the conversation! Fine, I'll go back to not paying attention."

"Attagirl," said Xander.

"You're right," said Giles. "He's a Death Eater. Former Death Eater, actually, he's currently spying for Dumbledore."

"And Dumbledore trusts him?" asked Buffy.

"Dumbledore trusts a lot of people," said Giles simply.

The conversation was interrupted by a tapping at the window. A tawny owl was illuminated by the dying rays of the sunset.

"Eeek!" shrieked Dawn piercingly. "What's that?"

"It's an owl, that's how witches and wizards send messages. It's probably the results of your interview," said Giles.

"Someone has to let it in," said Willow, "But I kind of don't want to go near it."

The owl pecked more persistently. Buffy unlatched the window and it flew around the room hooting indignantly. It was a good five minutes before Giles could coax it to stay still long enough to remove the letters from its leg. The owl flew out the window without a second glance back.

"You open yours first," said Buffy.

"We'll do it at the same time. One, two, three!"

They both broke through the Hogwarts seal and scanned the letters.

"I'm hired, I'm hired!" said Willow jumping up and down.

"Me too," said Buffy, "It says that I'm temporary though. I'll be on probation for a semester because of '…my past record of violence,' then I'll be evaluated."

"So does mine," said Willow frowning.

"Because of Warren, probably," said Anya.

"Right, Warren," said Willow, her face darkening.

"Don't look glum, chum," said Xander. "You just got hired and get to live in a castle, that's something. This calls for celebration, where's the nearest McDonald's? Dinner's on me."

"Xander, I hardly think that you came all the way to England to eat at McDonald's."

"Yeah, well my stomach's still adjusting to this English food."

"It just so happens that I know a fabulous Indian place nearby—"

"Yes, Indian food, that's good for an upset stomach."

They eventually settled on eating at The Leaky Cauldron.

"To Buffy and Willow," said Xander, "And a new year at Hogwarts."

"Cheers," they said and clinked glasses. Dawn stole the silverware from her place setting.


	3. Chapter 3

Buffy felt overwhelmed as she followed Professor McGonagall through the serpentine and shadowy hallways of Hogwarts. There was so much to take in that it could overwhelm the senses. There were portraits and tapestries and statues everywhere in contrasting styles. Baroque paintings hung next to medieval stained glass across from rococo doorways. Nothing was modern looking and there was nothing synthetic and cheap like plastic.

_You're a long way from Sunnydale_, thought Buffy.

Buffy had longed to be away from the Hellmouth when she lived in Sunnydale. She'd complained about how boring Sunnydale was with just the Bronze for entertainment and the nearest mall forty minutes away. Living in a castle in the middle of Scotland near a town without any clubs didn't seem like much of a trade off. But it was definitely an adventure.

"Knut for your thoughts?" asked Willow, who was walking besides Buffy.

"Listen to Willow, at least _you're_ down with wizarding money. I'm still having trouble going from dollars to pounds."  
"I just think I should immerse myself in wizarding culture."

"Immerse away. I'm still going to miss my c.d. player."

Professor McGonagall stopped abruptly at a door. Buffy and Willow stopped short and their trunks and Kitty Fantastico's cat carrier, which were hovering behind them, bumped the backs of their legs.

"This is the defense against the dark arts classroom," said Professor McGonagall. "Your office is through the door at the back of the room. Your personal quarters are nearby."

Professor McGonagall wasn't kidding. About twenty feet down the hall was a tapestry of a red dragon. Professor McGonagall moved the tapestry aside revealing a dark wooden door. She tapped the doorknob with her wand and the door opened slowly. Buffy gasped in surprise. The room was already lit with lamps in sconces on the walls. A fireplace had a small fire taking the slight chill out of the air.

"Are you sure this is mine?" asked Buffy.

"I trust it's enough?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"No, I mean yes, it's more than enough. It's much more than I expected, not that I expected little," Buffy stopped talking and took a deep breath, hoping to start over. "Thank you, professor. It's very nice."

Professor McGonagall nodded. "You may call me 'Minerva,' we're colleagues now."

"Yes, of course. Minerva."

"I'll just show Miss Rosenberg to her quarters. Dinner is at six in the Great Hall."

"Thank you," Buffy said again.

"I'll visit you when I'm done unpacking," said Willow waving.

"See you!"

Buffy led her trunk through the doorway and let it drop on the center of the floor. The room was dark because it had no windows but the lamps on the walls flickered merrily. There was a red couch against the same wall as the door. There was a coffee table with several mismatched plush-looking chairs. The fireplace was in the opposite wall. There was also a roll-top desk against the wall perpendicular to the couch. There were several empty bookshelves across from the desk. A small crystal chandelier caught the light from the lamps.

There was a door near the fireplace. Buffy pushed it open and gasped again. The room was dominated by a large canopied bed. There was also a vanity and dressing table with a mirror in an ornately carved frame. Buffy opened a small door and found a cupboard. The room had large windows hung with soft pink drapes. There was another fireplace across from the bed.

Buffy glanced through the doorway to make sure that no one was around. Then she took off her boots and flopped onto the bed. She stood up and started to jump on the bed. Buffy laughed happily and then noticed another door.

She went through the door and entered a huge bathroom. There was a huge claw-footed tub that could seat at least two. Buffy tried the water and rummaged through the cabinets. There was already toothpaste, a toothbrush, and other toiletries in case she had forgotten hers. Buffy touched the light blue towels that were incredibly soft.

Buffy smiled happily even as she started the tedious task of unpacking. The trunk opened revealing a wide variety of suitcases and boxes that were shrunk. Buffy took out a suitcase that resumed its normal size when she took it out of the trunk. The suitcase was full of Buffy's favorite things. She took out a picture of herself with Xander and Willow and put that on the coffee table. She put a picture of herself with her mother and Dawn next to it.

_Hi, mom,_ Buffy thought sadly.

Buffy took out Mr. Gordo and her diary next and put those in her bedroom.

There was a knock at Buffy's door. Buffy opened the door.

"Willow, you're unpacked already? That was fast."

Willow entered the room. "I used magic, silly."

"Oh, I don't know that spell," said Buffy lamely.

"It's easy, watch me."

Willow took a deep breath as she took her wand out of her pocket. She pointed the wand at the trunk and then at the rest of the room. Willow and Buffy had to duck as items flew out of the trunk and arranged themselves.

"I probably should have warned you about that," said Willow.

"Just a little," said Buffy while laughing, "That was an awesome spell though."

"Are you still feeling uncomfortable with the spellwork?"

"A little. I mean, I had to learn seven years of standard spells over a summer. I'm used to punching things being enough. But I'm doing really well with defensive spells. I guess that comes naturally to me."

"You just need more practice," said Willow comfortingly.

Buffy closed the trunk, shrunk it, and put it in the back of her cupboard.

"Maybe Snape is right," Buffy said glumly. "How am I supposed to teach these kids? They can probably do more magic than I can teach them."

"But you have life experience," said Willow. "You've seen and fought evil things. These kids need to know what they're going to face now that Voldemort is back."

"I guess so."

"Giles and Dumbledore believe in you and I'll be here to help you."

"If he's still speaking to me after spending a couple of weeks watching Dawn."

"Well, Xander and Anya will be there too."

"Yes, Giles's other favorite people. I'm going to owe him hugely for this," Buffy said laughing. "Maybe I can get out a couple of times, show Dawn around."

"We can show her merry old England. And merry old Scotland? Do they call it that?"

"I don't know. Have you picked out all of your textbooks yet?"

"Yes," said Willow brightening. "I'm using _Unmuddling Muggles: Facts and Theories for the Confused, Curious, and Clueless_."

"Wow, that's some title."  
"Did you notice that a lot of the books have titles like that? It's kind of weird. And I have some of the user manuals from my laptop and DVD player, things like that. I thought that I could make handouts of those to explain how everyday household things work. What are you using?"

"I don't know yet. Giles sent me a list of recommendations, here, let me get it."

The list had placed itself on the coffee table. Buffy opened it up and read;

"_Buffy, These volumes have been invaluable in my study of defense against the dark arts—_"

"Giles, you could have just said 'books-good.'"

"Like he should talk about defense against the dark arts, just keep him away from the band candy."

"Hey, I'm still trying to repress the memory of him and my mom," Buffy shuddered. "Ok, here's the books; _Defense Against the Dark Arts_, well that's to the point, _Protecting Yourself_, _A Guide to Vampires and What Lurks in the Dark. _That sounds promising. Oh there's more to the note, _By all means, avoid any books by Gilderoy Lockhart, he is profoundly stupid_. Ok, I'll avoid anything by Gildawho Lockwhat. I was planning on going to the library to check out the books. Do you want to come? I know you've logged more than your share of library time, you don't have to if you don't want to."

"Me not want to go to the library? Of course I want to go to the library, this is Hogwarts, they're supposed to have one of the best magical libraries in Europe."

"That was a little too much enthusiasm," Buffy said. "Let's go."

Buffy changed her shoes and they were ready to go.

"Wait, I have to set my password."

Buffy closed her eyes and remembered Professor McGonagall—Minerva's—instructions. _Tap the doorknob once, say 'obfirmo,' tap it again, and say what you want your password to be._

Willow watched as Buffy followed McGonagall's instructions and was amused when she said "Mr. Gordo."

"What?" asked Buffy, "He's the only reliable man in my life right now, except for Giles and that is too ick for words."

The women made their way laughingly to the library. Willow was right, it was amazing. There were stacks and stacks of books that made a veritable labyrinth. Buffy easily found the books she was looking for.

"Well," said Buffy, "Giles failed to mention that _Defense Against the Dark Arts_ is thirteen volumes long and was written in 1757. _Protecting Yourself_ is ok, but it's a little dense. It might make a good supplement. I think I'm going to stick with _A Guide to Vampires and What Lurks in the Dark_. This is definitely the best book."

"Wow," said Willow, "You're thinking like a teacher. Look at Teacher Buffy."

"I've definitely spent too much time in this library," said Buffy. "What time is it?"

"Uh-oh, it's six-fifteen. We're late for dinner."

"Do you think they penalize teachers for being late to dinner?"

"I hope not," said Willow.

They entered the Great Hall in good spirits. What Buffy assumed were the student tables were empty and pushed against the wall. The staff table at the end of the room was full, though. Buffy couldn't help but be impressed by the Great Hall with its enchanted ceiling. It was currently a clear, cool night.

"Hi," Buffy said feeling shy. "Sorry we're late, we got caught up in the library."

Dumbledore smiled. "It's no matter, I'm glad you're exploring Hogwarts. I trust your time at the library was fruitful?" he asked.

"Very," said Buffy. She eyed the staff table, looking for empty places. Dumbledore sat at the center of the table with Professor McGonagall to his right. There was an empty seat next to Professor McGonagall that was, unfortunately, next to Professor Snape. The other empty chair was next to Professor Flitwick. Buffy started walking there but at that moment Professor Flitwick said, "Miss Rosenberg, I'd love to hear your thoughts on _Unmuddling Muggles_. Was it helpful?"

Willow walked over to sit by him, casting an apologetic smile at Buffy.

_I won't let this ruin my dinner,_ thought Buffy. _I will be civil and mature, I'm an adult now._

Buffy sat down next to Professor Snape who didn't acknowledge her presence.

"How are you finding Hogwarts?" asked Professor McGonagall.

"I like it very much," Buffy answered truthfully. It differed very much from the future she had imagined for herself but there was something very charming about Hogwarts. Buffy's home at Revello Drive seemed so empty to her after her mother died. Hogwarts, though barely inhabited at the moment, seemed full of life.

"Have you chosen the texts that you will be teaching this year? I need to send out the booklists to the students soon," said Professor McGonagall, sipping her goblet.

"Yeah, here, I have it written down. I'm using _A Guide to Vampires and What Lurks in the Dark_ by Felix Temperance," Buffy said reading from the now smudged and torn list that she had in her pocket.

Severus snorted when he heard the name of the book Buffy had chosen.

_This girl is a hopeless amateur,_ he thought.

"Excuse me?" Buffy said.

Severus was briefly disconcerted. It was if she had read his mind.

If Severus was ruffled he didn't show it. "I said nothing."

"Yes you did," Buffy said, "You snorted. That's something."

Severus raised his eyebrow at her. This was the problem of hiring an outsider to teach, she had no clue of the respect she owed him. No student who came out of Hogwarts would dare speak to him with such impertinence.

Buffy focused on dinner for the first time. She had no clue where to start. The problem was that English food differed somewhat from what she was used to. There was salad, Buffy took a hearty portion of that. There were a variety of pies. Buffy was wary of them after she learned what was actually in shepherd's pie.

"_A Guide to Vampires and What Lurks in the Dark_ is good for amateurs. It should suit you perfectly," he said coolly.

Buffy saw a plate with chicken and gladly reached for it.

"Well, I guess that depends on your definition of amateur. I've been slaying for seven years now."

"That's hardly any time at all."

"Well, maybe compared to you," she said, then gasped. _I can't believe you just said that!_ she thought. "I mean, I'm not saying that you're old or anything, you're just older than I happen to be right now." Buffy shut up.

_Shutting up is the smartest thing she's ever done_, thought Severus, seething, though his face revealed nothing.

They spent the rest of the meal in silence. They didn't notice it, but Professor McGonagall had heard their exchange. Minerva smiled to herself.

_I do believe she's going to give him a run for his money_, thought Minerva. _Good for her._

"If you'll excuse me," said Buffy.

"Of course, have a nice night."

"Thanks," Buffy said and she could have sworn that Professor McGonagall winked at her.

Buffy walked out of the Great Hall alone since Willow was deep in conversation with Professor Flitwick. She took a deep breath once she was outside of the hall.

_That man is the most frustrating, antisocial jerk I've met since Spike,_ thought Buffy. No, Snape was worse than Spike. Spike was a vampire, he couldn't help being ill-tempered, rude, and generally unpleasant. _Now is not the time to think of Spike_.

"You're right," she said to herself and started walking to her room to get her coat. Buffy was frustrated and irritated but it was nothing a little patrolling couldn't cure.


	4. Chapter 4

"Here, monsters, monsters," said Buffy softly as she made her way through the cemetery in Hogsmeade. Overall, the night had been quiet. Buffy had been hoping for at least one vampire to pummel.

Severus Snape irritated her to no end. He was so arrogant, presuming that she would be incapable of teaching. Acting as if she learned nothing over the past seven years. She may not be able to channel the Dark Lord of Spooky like Severus did, but she could be pretty commanding.

Something distracted Buffy from her thoughts. There was a slight orange glow against a mausoleum. Maybe there would be some action tonight.

Buffy silently made her way to the tomb. Someone was leaning against it, smoking.

"You know, that will kill you," said Buffy, "If I don't."

She gasped when the figure looked up.

"Hey, love," he said, inclining his head.

"You! What are you doing here?" Buffy asked angrily.

"I have a poker game at the Hog's Head, if you must know."

"You followed me to Scotland!?! This is sick!"

"Actually, I'm from the U.K. so it's like you're following me," he said grinning wickedly. He took a drag off of his cigarette.

"I missed you," he said, leaning back and blowing out the smoke.

"Shut up, Spike," said Buffy.

"What? Don't act like you didn't miss me."

"What are you doing here? And I would never miss you," Buffy said crossing her arms across her chest. Neither of them noticed the hooded figure creeping among the tombstones.

"Well, if you must know, there's a bloke that's going to help me get this chip out of my noggin."

"Who?" Buffy asked.

"That's for me to know," he said, winking. "I might tell you, if you want to," Spike reached an arm around her.

"No!" Buffy said, wriggling out of his grasp. "Never again," she said softer.

"That's not what you said the last time."  
She punched him, hard. The back of his head bounced against the mausoleum.

The change was instantaneous. The demon's eyes glowed yellow.

"You know, I'm getting really tired of you punching me around!" he snarled.

"Then stay out of my way!" Buffy shrieked.

"Gladly! One day I'm going to wipe that smart smile off of your face," Spike's face reverted to its normal form as he stalked off into the night.

Buffy stormed off in the opposite direction.

The cloaked figure walked out of the shadows.

Severus Snape watched as Buffy made her way back to Hogwarts. An owl with the message to meet Lucius Malfoy at the Hog's Head had been waiting for him outside the window of his personal quarters after dinner. He didn't know why Lucius wanted to meet him. Overhearing Buffy arguing with the man, Spike, had simply been fortuitous.

_Vampire_, his mind corrected.

Buffy Summers had evidently engaged in relations with a vampire. _Sex_, a more primitive voice in his mind corrected, _She had sex with a vampire_. This was certainly a most interesting facet of Miss Buffy Summers. A Slayer fucking a vampire. He chuckled as the wheels in his mind turned, wondering how he could use this knowledge against her.

Snape's footfalls echoed hollowly as he walked into the Hog's Head. The outer bar area was empty. Severus nodded curtly at the barman who pointed at which door Snape should go through.

Severus pushed open the door. He acted as if he'd never seen the bleached-blonde vampire sitting across from Lucius.

"Severus," Lucius said, nodding at him.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?" Severus asked, seating himself next to Lucius in a rough wooden chair.

"Him," said Lucius, indicating Spike. "He's a vampire. He wants an audience with the Dark Lord."

Severus nodded as if this were new to him.

"Why should we allow you to see the Dark Lord?"

Severus's eyes et the vampire's eyes. His mind was dark but not impenetrable. He saw an image of a cold, white room, a kind of holding cell. Then he saw an image of Spike trying to bite Willow, but failing.

"I'm proposing a deal," said Spike. "The U.S. government inserted this chip in my head so now I'm practically defanged. I want it out. I want things to be like they were before."

"You think the Dark Lord would deign to help you?" asked Lucius.

"I think old Moldymort would kiss my feet if I delivered the Slayer to him."

Lucius winced at the bastardization of his master's name but said nothing.

"You've killed a slayer before?" asked Lucius.

Spike held up two fingers.

"I've killed two."

Severus was silent as he viewed more images from Spike's mind. An image of Spike having sex with Buffy. _Why did he find that arousing?_ He asked himself. Another image, of her rejecting him, Spike trying to force himself on her. Then just feelings. Feelings of shame, arousal, anger. Most of all the desire for vengeance.

"How have you heard of the Dark Lord?" asked Severus.

"Who hasn't?" asked Spike simply. "Anyone with an ear to the underground knows Voldemort is back."

"You would do well to be respectful of the Dark Lord," said Lucius, his nostrils flaring.

"Why? You're going to tell him anyway, I know you are. You're not going to miss the chance of being the man who arranged for him to kill the slayer. No, you're not going to miss that," said Spike, leaning back in his chair and smirking.

Lucius looked at Severus who was looking intently at Spike. For all his crudeness, the vampire was smart. Lucius, on the other hand, was foundering, torn between his greed and his desire to serve his master. The Malfoys were what you got after centuries of cousins marrying cousins.

"We could tell the Dark Lord of your plan," said Severus smoothly, "And he might not be interested. Are you willing to accept that possibility?"

"I'm planning on doing the slayer in anyway."  
"Well tell the Dark Lord. Don't contact us until we contact you."

Spike extended his hand and Severus shook, then Lucius. Lucius left the pub and disapparated with a loud rapport.

"Hey, are you up for a game of pool?" Spike asked Severus.

Severus's answer was to leave, his cloak trailing behind him.

"Didn't think so," said Spike.

Neither of them noticed the face watching from the window.

Buffy had initially walked back to Hogwarts. _Great_, she thought, _my two least favorite people living near me_. Her curiosity had been piqued, though, and she had ended up walking to the Hog's Head. She severely doubted Spike's poker story. It was easy enough to find the room with Spike in it. Buffy had climbed on a pile of crates to get a better view. She watched with curiosity as Severus entered the room. She couldn't hear what they were saying but at the end they shook hands. It looked like they were making a deal.

Well, this was something. Buffy had suspected that Snape was up to no good, now she had proof. Proof of what? She didn't know but she didn't like the idea of Snape and Spike getting friendly. And she didn't like the look of the pale, pinch-faced man with the cold eyes.

A sharp crack startled Buffy. Someone had just disapparated. She jumped off the crates and peered around them. Severus was walking back to Hogwarts. Buffy was determined to find out what happened in the Hog's Head. The alley she was in led to a side street. She followed the street. From there she could see Severus and follow him without him seeing her. He walked quickly, his cloak flaring out dramatically behind him. The street Buffy was on led to the cemetery. She hopped the cemetery fence and strode confidently towards the rapidly receding figure of Severus Snape. It would look like she had just been out on patrol.

He should have been surprised by her. She could have startled him into jumping and making a most unmanly sound. She didn't, though. Second before Buffy strode alongside him, Severus's alert mind detected the presence of another person. Psychically, she may as well have announced her presence with a mariachi band and fireworks. _Typical,_ he noted, _She lacks any self control._

"Fancy meeting you here, Severus," said Buffy, walking next to Severus chummily.

_She presumes to use my first name_, fumed Severus. His steel-trap mind noted that he seemed to always fume when he was around her. Unbidden, and image of Buffy straddling Spike flitted into his mind. _Control, man!_ He thought to himself.

"Yes," he said, folding his arms and quickening his pace. Maybe she would take the clue and leave him be.

"Out for a walk?" Buffy asked.

_Cease and desist, you clumsy girl,_ he thought.

"Yes," he said.

"It's a nice night," she said. "A nice night for a walk."

"Is there an end to your ceaseless prattle?" Severus asked, resolutely staring ahead.

"I'm getting there," she said, undeterred. "I was just going to say that it's a shame that everything seems to be closed."

Severus slowed and looked at her.

"Even the Three Broomsticks is closing early. Everything looks closed except the Hog's Head."

They had come to a stop. Realization was creeping upon him.

"Where are you coming from, Severus?" Buffy asked.

He looked into her eyes. Images of himself as viewed through a window floated across his vision then stopped abruptly. She had averted her eyes from his and shook her head quickly. Buffy had sensed him in her mind. Her eyes were narrowed in suspicion as he answered.

"Nowhere. I'm just walking, if that's acceptable?"

They started walking again.

"Sure, whatever, it's up to you. Just be careful, there are bad things in the dark."

"Is that a threat, Miss Summers?" he asked icily.

"Not a threat," Buffy said smiling slightly, "Consider it a warning. From someone with experience."

They walked the rest of the way to the castle in silence.

Buffy turned to Severus at the castle stairs.

"You know, we really have to do this again sometime. It's been, well, I'll just say it's been. You really know how to show a girl a good time," then she turned and loped off into the night.

Severus was reeling as he watched Buffy leave, going to who knows where.

_She really is the most infuriating girl,_ he thought. _Much worse than Granger, she may be even more infuriating than the Boy-Who-Constantly-Breaks-the-Rules_.

He walked alone through the empty, silent castle. Peeves had the misfortune of interrupting Severus.

"Out of my way, Peeves!" he barked.

Peeves started to laugh riotously. Severus pointed his wand at him and Peeves found himself jammed into the nearest keyhole.

"Sugar quills," Severus said to the gargoyle guarding the Headmaster's door.

Severus found himself taking the revolving stairs up to Dumbledore's office two at a time so he was slightly breathless as he knocked at the door.

"Come in," said Dumbledore.

Severus found Dumbledore sitting in a squashy chair sipping a cup of tea.

"What are you doing here at this late hour?" Dumbledore indicated that Severus should sit down and conjured another teacup for him.

"We have a problem," said Severus, recounting his after-dinner meeting.

"So, it seems the slayer has made an enemy, I can't imagine why," Snape sneered.

"This is very serious indeed," said Dumbledore. "Have you told her?"

Severus snorted. "She's impossible to talk to, her butchery of the English language is appalling as is—"

A knock at the door interrupted what else was wrong with Buffy Summers.

"Come in," said Dumbledore again.


	5. Chapter 5

After leaving Snape, Buffy had ran to the owlery. She'd intended to send Giles an owl about Spike's appearance at Hogsmeade and Snape's meeting with him. The only problem with her plan was that owls are nocturnal and Buffy had found the owlery empty.

So she ran back to the school. _Dumbledore should know_, she thought. He would want to know who Snape was keeping company with. _Why should Dumbledore know? _Buffy wondered at her persistence at pursuing this. Really, what proof did she have of wrongdoing? Maybe Snape didn't know what Spike was. These thoughts slowed her down as she walked to Dumbledore's office. He was probably asleep anyway, not everyone was practically nocturnal like her.

But she was already at the gargoyle guarding his office. Buffy stared at the gargoyle, willing it to move. It stayed still. Then she remembered there was a password. What was the password? Dumbledore had said it on the day of her interview. She struggled to remember. It was "sugar something," some kind of candy.

"Sugar Crisp?" she tried.

The gargoyle remained immobile.

"No, that's stupid, I doubt he's even _heard_ of Sugar Crisp," she said to herself. She giggled a little at the idea of Dumbledore watching Saturday morning cartoons and eating a bowl of Sugar Crisp.

"Quills!" she jumped with excitement. "It's 'sugar quills,' right?"

The gargoyle leapt aside as if to answer. Buffy rode the stairs up to Dumbledore's office.

_Here's hoping I don't disturb him,_ she thought as she knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Well, he didn't sound pissed. She opened the door. _Be calm, be rational, be adult,_ is what she thought.

"Professor, we have a problem," is what came out as she strode across the floor.

Dumbledore was sitting in a midnight blue dressing gown with little silver stars embroidered on it. Buffy stopped in shock. Sitting next to Dumbledore was the Dark Lord of Spooky himself. Snape.

"What are _you_ doing here?" she heard herself ask him.

_Crap, _is what she thought.

"My business with the headmaster is certainly none of your business," he said archly.

"Please, sit down, Miss Summers," said Dumbledore pleasantly, conjuring another chair between his and Snape's. "What's the problem?"

He handed her a cup of tea.

"Thank you, Professor. The problem is," she looked at Snape. "Well, the problem is private."

Dumbledore cocked his head. "Anything you say to me can be said in front of Severus."

"Ok," and Buffy recounted meeting Spike in the cemetery and ended with, "The problem is I saw you," she indicated Snape, "meeting with Spike at the Hog's Head."

Severus glared at here.

"You have some nerve spying on me."

"I wasn't spying on _you_, I was spying on Spike. You just happened to be there. Why were you there?"

"That is my business," Severus said coldly.

"Quite coincidentally, Severus was just telling me of his meeting with Spike. You see, Miss Summers, Severus is a double agent. He is a Death Eater and he keeps me informed of Tom's activities."

"And you trust him?" Buffy asked incredulously. 

"You would best learn to hold your tongue before you say something you regret," said Severus, his hand moving toward his left pocket. 

Dumbledore shot Severus a stern glance before fixing his penetrating glare on Buffy. 

"I trust Severus, I will not have others questioning his loyalty." "I'm sorry, Professor," said Buffy. "That just came out, I didn't mean it."

"All is forgiven," said Dumbledore. "Severus was just explaining the results of his meeting with Spike before you knocked. It seems that Spike believes that Ton will be able to remove the chip in his brain if he delivers you to Tom."

Buffy's reaction shocked Severus. She laughed as if that was the funniest thing she ever heard.

"Spike? Deliver me to Voldemort? That's rich!"

"You're not concerned?" ask Severus.

"I'm concerned. I hate that he's here, even though as long as the chip works he can't hurt anybody. He's a royal pain in the ass. He'd be scary except his plans never work. He's been trying to kill me since I was a junior in high school. I'm like the cartoon mouse, I'm always going to win."

"If Spike is so easy to defeat, why haven't you killed him already?" asked Severus.

"That's…complicated. After Spike got the chip, he helped us out. A lot. He saved my sister's life and he helped me fight Glory. I wouldn't have been able to beat her if he hadn't helped."

"So you have a cooperative relationship?" asked Dumbledore.

_You could call it that_, thought Buffy.

"Yes. Before I came here, though, he was…hostile. I didn't expect him to follow me from Sunnydale."

"If he resumed hostilities could you kill him?"

"Yes," said Buffy.

_That's a lie,_ she thought.

"I won't let him hurt anyone else," said Buffy.

Dumbledore nodded, considering her seriously.

"I believe you."

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" asked Dumbledore.

"Not that I can think of," she shook her head. "I meant to tell Giles, though, only all the owls are gone. And my phone doesn't work here."

Buffy took a sleek silver piece of plastic out of her pocket. Snape recognized it as a muggle device for talking to people from a distance.

"You may use Fawkes, if you wish to alert Giles."

Buffy noticed the magnificent phoenix for the first time. He cooed softly at her. She nodded, took out a piece of paper and a pen from her jacket pocket and began to write.

"May I see your phone?" Dumbledore asked almost shyly.

"Sure," said Buffy.

He picked it up and examined it closely. He opened it and looked at its blank screen.

"Isn't it fascinating what muggles invent in lieu of magic?"

"Quite," said Snape, sounding as though he thought the opposite were true.

Dumbledore put the message in Fawkes's beak and the phoenix flew out the window.

Dumbledore gave Buffy back her phone. "Thank you for alerting me about Spike. And thank you for letting me see your phone."

"Oh, you're welcome, any time."

"Is there anything else you would like to tell me Severus?"

"No," Severus shook his head.

They left Dumbledore's office together.

"I'll be watching you," said Severus suddenly, while standing at the foot of the stairs.

"Why?" asked Buffy, staring into his unfathomable eyes.

"Because I don't trust you."

"That's good," said Buffy, "Because the feeling is mutual."

They both walked off in opposite directions.

Buffy suddenly realized how tired she was as she walked to her door. She moved the tapestry back and noticed there was a message taped to the door. Buffy opened it and read;

"_Buffy, I guess you're patrolling, just wanted to let you know I stopped by. I'll be up awhile if you want to come to visit. My room is at the end of the hall, my door is behind a tapestry of a unicorn. Willow"_

Buffy entered her room and changed into her comfortable pajamas and flip-flops. Her footsteps sounded lonely to Buffy. The castle was definitely creepy with only a little over a dozen people occupying it. Willow flopped onto her bed with the new leather-bound journal that she had bought from Scrivenshafts. There was nothing like cracking open a brand new journal.

She wrote;

_24 August 1997_

_Dear Tara,_

_I guess it's kind of weird naming a brand new journal after your dead girlfriend. But I want to keep a record of my life and I have a hard time just writing in a journal. You were the person that I would tell everything, from the really important stuff to the not so important stuff, so I guess it's appropriate._

_It's about a week before school starts. I'll be teaching here at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I'll be teaching muggle (non-magical people) studies at a magical school. It feels weird. I never would have dreamt of being here a year ago. Everything was so dark not so long ago. I thought I was going to die, but I didn't._

_Life goes on. Some days it's easy and some days it's hard. The land is so beautiful here, I know that you would love it. Sometimes, when the sun is really gentle on my skin or there's a nice breeze rustling the leaves I feel you here. I remember when we sang together._

Willow chewed on the tip of her pen (She thought quills were too impractical), gathering her thoughts. A knock interrupted her reverie. She put her journal down on her nightstand and opened the door.

"Hi Buffy, come in."

Willow's room had the same layout as Buffy's except the decorations in the sitting room were in earth tones and her bedroom was done in light purples.

"How are you doing?"

"I just got back from patrolling," she flopped on Willow's couch.

"You don't sound good," said Willow concernedly.

"Guess who's in town?" Buffy asked.

"I don't know. Wait!" realization dawned on her, "No, he wouldn't, would he?" asked Willow.

Buffy nodded that Willow was right.

"Spike followed you all the way here? That's sick!"

"That's what I thought," said Buffy. "But this is the weird part," and Buffy told Willow of Snape meeting with Spike.

"Dumbledore explained that Snape's a double-agent but something was definitely weird. I just don't trust him."

Willow was about to say something when they were interrupted by a light tapping at the window.

Willow got up and opened the window.

"Oh, a phoenix!" she exclaimed.

"He's Dumbledore's. I think it's a 'he.' Its name is 'Fawkes.'"

Buffy took the letter from Fawkes's beak and hesitantly stroked it's feathers. Fawkes looked at her with soft, intelligent eyes before flying off into the night.

"Dear Buffy," read Buffy aloud, "The news of Spike's return is most distressing. He undoubtedly wants to seek out an alliance with Voldemort. It's imperative that we meet to discuss strategy. Also, Dawn wants to see you. I'll be at the Three Broomsticks tomorrow at noon if you want to meet me there.

Regards—Giles."

"Oh, Dawn & Giles time," said Willow. "Do you mind if I come?" asked Willow.

"Sure, the more minds the merrier. Plus, I bet Dawnie would love to see you. Minerva said that the annual supply lists went out so we can floo to Diagon Ally and get her supplies."

"Yeah. It's going to be weird being her teacher though."

"Definitely."

Buffy yawned. "I'm beat," she yawned and stretched. "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Goodnight, Buffy," said Willow.

"Goodnight," said Buffy, letting herself out. She shut the door behind her and walked slowly towards her room. She couldn't wait to take a long hot bath and curl up in her big bed.

Willow turned back to her journal and reread what she had last written, _I remember when we sang together._ She continued;

_That day was so perfect, yet marred by the knowledge of what I had done to you. I will never forget how I let magic take control of me and let me hurt someone I love. I'm sorry, is all I can say._

_That's why I'm here. Giles, and the coven at Westbury, say that magic is a part of me, something that I can't stop or deny. I only want to use it for good. If I can help students respect and understand muggles I think that's the ultimate good._

_There are dark times ahead. Terrible things are already happening to muggles and their supporters. I have the feeling that Buffy and I will be facing a new evil unlike anything we've ever faced before (Except maybe the mayor), because this evil was created entirely by a human._

_Anyway, I'm very tired. I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight and I love you, Willow_

Willow curled up against the plump pillows. "Exstinguo," she whispered softly from her bed and all the lamps went out. She slept dreamlessly.


	6. Chapter 6

Breakfast at the Burrow was a warm busy affair. Arthur, Bill, Ron, Ginny, and Harry Potter were currently sitting at the table, while Molly attended to something at the stove. Arthur and Bill were reading and discussing _The Daily Prophet_. Ginny and Ron were discussing quidditch techniques and considering going out for a fly later. Harry was paging through the volume about defense against the dark arts that Remus Lupin had given him. The past months had found Harry reading anything he could about defense against the dark arts. He had the growing sense that time was quickly running out and he wanted to be ready for Voldemort's next move.

Arthur drained his coffee. "It looks like Bill and I should be leaving." He leaned over and kissed Molly goodbye. "Goodbye, love," he said and then he kissed Ginny on the top of her head.

"Bye, dad," she said.

"Bye," said Ron and Harry.

"Harry, do put that book away and eat something," said Molly, biting back a comment about the Dursleys and how they fed him.

"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," said Harry gratefully as she spooned more oatmeal with lots of brown sugar and maple syrup into his bowl, and put a plate of crackling bacon on the table. Harry helped himself to more of the delicious food. Mrs. Weasley's cooking rivaled that of Hogwarts and she didn't even have a house elf.

A tapping at the window interrupted breakfast.

"That's probably from Hogwarts," said Molly, opening the window.

A brown owl flew into the kitchen and perched itself on the table, hooting and sipping from the orange juice pitcher. There were three letters. Harry scanned the book list.

"It looks like they've got a new defense against the dark arts teacher, we need a new book and _gym clothes_?" he said incredulously.

"What do they mean by 'gym clothes?'" asked Molly.

"I suppose they mean clothes to exercise in and trainers," explained Harry.

"Oh dear, I don't think we'll be able to get those at Diagon Alley," fretted Mrs. Weasley.

"Maybe Madam Malkin's will have some for Hogwarts students," said Ron.

"And if not there are lots of muggle places around Diagon Alley," said Harry. "We could get our money exchanged at Gringotts and then go out to muggle London."

"It'll be practice for my muggle studies class," said Ron, grinning.

"So Hermione talked you into muggle studies?" Harry smirked.

"It seemed like a good idea," shrugged Ron. "If I want to help stop You-Know-Who and protect muggles than I should probably learn about them."

"I'm taking it too," said Ginny. "Dad was really happy when he found out, he can't wait to see our textbooks."

"I wonder what they're going to be teaching you that would require gym clothes," said Molly.

"Maybe we're going to learn to fight," said Harry, grimly.

"Or Hogwarts has started a gym class," said Ron. "Imagine Crabbe and Goyle running laps," he snickered. "They can hardly fit their fat asses on their brooms."

"Ron, language!" scolded Mrs. Weasley.

"Uh-oh," said Ginny staring at her letter. There was something shiny in the folds.

"What's that?" asked Ron, reaching for the letter. "You've been made a prefect too, ha!" he said.

"Shut up!" said Ginny. "Now I'm not going to have any fun this year!"

"Ginny Weasley, you should be proud! Now all of my children have been prefects."

"Except Fred and George," said Ron, "But they've got a business and are making loads of money, so that makes up for it."

Ginny grumbled disgruntledly.

"Wait, if Ginny's a prefect, does this mean that Hermione's Head Girl?" asked Harry.

Ron shrugged. "Probably. She always owls us after she gets her list so we can meet at Diagon Alley, then we can find out."

"It's not so bad, Ginny," Harry said. "You can take off points now."  
"That's true," said Ginny cheering up a little. "I wonder why they didn't make you Head Boy?"

"Dumbledore probably thought I would be too busy looking for the horcruxes with him."

Harry couldn't help feel a pang that he was chosen but he knew he would be way too busy this year to worry about managing prefects and patrolling.

"I'm still a prefect, so that leaves Malfoy, Ernie Macmillan, and Anthony Goldstein. I really hope it's not Malfoy," said Ron.

"I bet they won't make him Head Boy after his behavior on the Inquisitorial Squad," said Harry.

They continued to eat in silence, considering the possibilities.

"Harry, want to fly with us?" asked Ginny after awhile. "Ron wants to get some practice in."

"Sure," said Harry, finishing his orange juice.

"Ron and Ginny, before you go flying anywhere, don't forget to weed the garden," said Mrs. Weasley, setting a spell to wash the dishes.

"Awww, mom," said Ron.

"Ronald, I have enough to do here and with the Order. You said you wanted to help the Order, you can start by weeding the garden."

"It'll be ok," said Harry. "I'll help. Besides, we can use magic now," he grinned.

"Technically, you can," said Mrs. Weasley. "But I don't want you tearing up my garden, so be careful. You cast this spell at a patch of garden and only the weeds will be removed."

They moved into the large vegetable garden at the back of the house. Mrs. Weasley took out her wand and pointed it at a patch of the garden and said, "Semoveo." The weeds in a one-foot area flew out of the ground and landed in a neat pile outside of the garden.

"And when you're done don't forget to put the weeds in the compost heap."

"Semoveo," said Harry, and more weeds flew out with a slight popping sound as they left the earth.

"Not bad," said Harry.

Harry, Ron, and Ginny divided up and worked on different areas of the garden. With the help of magic they were done in about half an hour. Ron levitated the weeds into the compost heap (It was never a good idea to get too close to the Weasley's compost).

They went inside for glasses of water. Mrs. Weasley offered them fresh apples from one of their trees.

"Ginny, I was thinking, Ron get a present when he became a prefect, so what would you like? You guys already have Pig so an owl wouldn't do."

"Really, mum? I want a new broom," said Ginny instantly.

Mrs. Weasley frowned. "Are you sure you don't want a new pair of dress robes?"

"No, I want a new broom, the kind Ron has. I've been using George's ancient broom, it's ok but it pulls to the left."

"Ok," said Mrs. Weasley, "A new broom it is. I was thinking we could go to Diagon Alley tomorrow for your supplies, I'll buy it then."

"Thanks, mum," said Ginny, hugging Mrs. Weasley.

They spent the rest of the afternoon flying in the center of a grove of high-growing trees where no muggles would see them. Ginny and Harry would try to lob quaffles past Ron. It was moments like this when Harry felt the growing unease in his chest recede for a bit.

When they returned to the house there was an owl waiting for them.

"Yup," said Ron, "It's a message from Hermione."

He read the note and went red.

"Oooh, what's in the note?" said Ginny.

"Nothing," said Ron, clutching it to his chest. "Hermione has been made Head Girl and will be in Diagon Alley tomorrow, that's all."

"Then why are you clutching it like it's your firstborn child?" asked Harry.

Ginny was too fast for Ron.

"Accio, note!"

The note flew out of Ron's hand and into Ginny's. She skimmed it rapidly.

"Oh, that's not that bad, honestly Ronald."

"She's not calling him Won-Won is she?" asked Harry grinning.

Ginny showed him the note.

"There, at the bottom," she pointed.  
Harry looked, "_P.S. I miss you more than I'd like to admit, Ron. An owl from you would be nice_."

"Aww, that's cute, our Ron is becoming a man," said Harry cheekily.

"Enough of that," said Ron snatching the letter back. "The Midget-Boy-Who-Lived."

"Hey!" said Harry, drawing himself up to his full height, which was still not as tall as Ron.

"None of that in my kitchen," said Mrs. Weasley briskly, entering with a basket of fresh-picked vegetables. If you want to stay in here, you'll make yourself useful helping me get supper ready."

The evening passed like that, with a homey comfort that Harry had never felt at the Dursleys. Dinner was loud with lots of debate and good food. It was times like this that Harry felt his troubles melt away. He slept soundly that night.

The next morning, after a hearty breakfast, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley flooed into Diagon Alley. They headed towards Gringotts first. Hermione was waiting on the steps.

"Hi!" she said, and hugged Mrs. Weasley, Ginny, and Harry. She stopped in front of Ron and they hugged awkwardly and she gave him a quick kiss. He flushed to the roots of his hair.

Harry chose to ignore that and instead said, "Congratulations on being made Head Girl."

"Thanks, Harry," she said. "I wish you or Ron were Head Boy though. That would eliminate Malfoy's chances of being Head Boy. It's bad enough working with him as a prefect, he would never shut up about being Head Boy."

They went into Gringotts and got money from their vaults.

"Did you get gym clothes yet?" asked Ginny.

"I already have gym clothes but I got a new pair from Madam Malkin's. They have Hogwarts issued sweatpants and t-shirts and hoodies, you can get them based on your house."

"Ron, you're going to need new robes, I can't let yours out anymore," said Mrs. Weasley.

They stopped at Madam Malkin's first, where everyone picked up their gym clothes. There was a girl being fitted for robes so Ron had to wait. She had brown hair and looked to be close to their age.

"Have you seen her before?" whispered Ginny to Harry.

"No, she doesn't look familiar," said Harry. "I wonder what House she's in, I thought I knew everyone at Hogwarts."

"Honestly, it's so rude to talk about someone like they're not even there," said Hermione. Hermione didn't need to worry, though, the girl was oblivious to their conversation.

"Hello," said Hermione to the new girl.

"Hi!" she said, jumping and causing Madam Malkin to "tsk."

"I'm Hermione, we were just wondering if you go to Hogwarts?"

"Yes," said the girl, "I just got accepted. I'm Dawn, by the way."

"Oh, you're American," said Harry, after hearing her talk.

She nodded. "Yes, I've transferred here from Sunnydale in California."

"Transferred?" said Hermione with a frown. "That's very rare, Hogwarts hardly ever accepts transfer students."

"Is Sunnydale a school?" asked Ron.

"No, it's a town. I never went to a magical school, just one that was on a Hellmouth. I was kind of home-schooled in magic."

"You look like you're our age, I guess you'll be starting in our year? We're seventh years." asked Hermione.

"I'm going to be seventeen, so I guess I'll be a seventh year too. The only reason I'm going at all is because my sister, Buffy, is the new defense against the dark arts professor."

"What's she like?" asked Ginny. "She's not evil, is she? Because we've had a couple of evil professors."

"No I don't think she's evil, she takes my things sometimes though. Buffy's…different. But she really knows about the dark arts and bad things. She's stopped five or six different apocalypses back home."

"Wow, that's impressive," said Harry.

Madam Malkin finished with Dawn and gave her her uniform and gym clothes.

"The tie and gym clothes are charmed," explained Madam Malkin. "They'll become the color of whatever house you're sorted into."

"Cool," said Dawn, and paid Madam Malkin with some help from Ginny because she was still new to using wizarding money.

Dawn sat with Harry, Ginny, and Hermione while they waited for Ron to be finished.

"I'm Ginny Weasley," said Ginny "And that's my brother, Ron."  
"I'm Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Harry Potter? _The_ Harry Potter!" shrieked Dawn.

"Yes," said Harry, shrinking in his seat.

"I can't believe I'm meeting you," said Dawn, "You're like a rock star!"

"No, I'm really not," said Harry. "I'm just a regular guy, really."

"That's cool," said Dawn looking at him adoringly.

Ron covered up a snicker with a cough and Harry shot him a glare.

The bells on the door tinkled as someone else entered the shop. The blonde who entered looked around quickly, then located Dawn.

"Are you done, Dawn?" asked Buffy.

"Yup," she said getting up and grabbing her parcel.

"Meet my new friends, Buffy. These are Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and this is Harry Potter," said Dawn.

"Hi," said Buffy. "It's nice to meet you all."

"I told them that you'd be teaching at Hogwarts," said Dawn.

"Ok," said Buffy. "Well, I look forward to teaching all of you. Dawn, are you ready to get your textbooks?"

"Sure," said Dawn. "Bye, guys! It was really nice meeting all of you!"

"Well," Ginny said her eyes twinkling mischievously, "I guess I'd better watch out, Harry, I'm going to have to get past the Creeveys and Dawn to get to you."

"I'm glad you find this funny," said Harry, hoping to sound angry, though he never could really be angry with her.

She wrapped her arm around his and Harry didn't fight to remove it.

_Why do you always have to be the martyr?_ He thought_. I might as well enjoy what fun I can have. _But a conflicting voice chimed in, _She could get hurt. You are dangerous._ Ginny twirled her fingers between his and that instantly shut up and conflict he may have been having.

Mrs. Weasley entered the shop. She stopped and eyed the way Ginny and Harry were sitting but didn't say anything.

"I have all of your schoolbooks," she said, holding several wrapped parcels.

"Now we just need to get our potions ingredients refilled," said Hermione.

"Ugh, don't remind me of potions!" said Ron. "You know that greasy git is going to work as hard as possible to make our last year hell."

"You're finished!" said Madam Malkin brightly. Mrs. Weasley paid for Ron and Ginny.

They left the store. "Hermione, if I give you the money, would you be able to refill Ginny's potion kit? Then I can take her to Quality Quidditch Supplies."

"No problem, Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione holding out her hand for the list, kit and money.

They were surrounded by various parcels.

"This is ridiculous," said Hermione. "Decresco!" she said at her pile of parcels. They shrunk until they were able to fit into her messenger bag.

"Excellent spell," said Ron, copying it.

They walked to the apothecary and entered the dark, pungent smelling room. They hurriedly refilled their kits in order to get out of the stench of the little shop.

"What time is it?" asked Harry.

"It's food time," said Ron, rubbing his stomach. "I hope mum takes us out to dinner."

Mrs. Weasley and Ginny were waiting in front of Quality Quidditch Supplies.

"I reckon you're hungry?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"You know me too well, mum," said Ron.

She ruffled his hair affectionately, even though she had to reach up to do it.

"Let's go to the Leaky Cauldron then," said Mrs. Weasley. "Your parents are staying their, right?" she asked Hermione.

"Yes, they're staying until I have to go to school."

They entered the Leaky Cauldron and Tom had to push two tables together to seat them all. Bill and Arthur eventually stopped in, hoping to catch up with Mrs. Weasley.

Dinner was going well for Harry until the door opened and he heard a familiar voice. His stomach sank.

Dawn entered with Buffy and four people that they didn't know.

Ron smirked, "Harry, shall I pull up a chair for your girlfriend?"

"Ronald, that is so rude," said Hermione. "So she's a little…enthusiastic. A lot of people at Hogwarts are like that when they first meet Harry, hopefully she'll grow out of it."

"I really hope you're right, Hermione," said Harry.

Harry didn't have to worry, though. Dawn didn't seem to notice their table. Instead, she sat deep in conversation with her sister, and four other people that he didn't know.

"You know," said Ron, "She seems really young to be a professor."

"You're right," said Harry. "Dawn said she's good with defense against the dark arts, but so are lots of people. The people in the D.A. turned out to be good at defense against the dark arts but I wouldn't hire most of them as a professor, especially now. I'd want someone like Moody, the _real_ Moody, or Professor Lupin. I wonder why Dumbledore hired her."

"Maybe she has experience, maybe she worked with America's ministry," said Hermione. "Besides, Snape was only twenty-three when he was hired. She looks like she's in her twenties."

"Uhm, why do you know that?" asked Ron.

"It's in _Hogwarts: A History_. Snape was the youngest professor ever hired at Hogwarts, that's kind of momentous," said Hermione. "And that's another reason I will never read that book," said Ron.


	7. Chapter 7

Buffy sat tapping a pen on her desk. She stared at the blank sheet of paper facing her. Mocking her with its blankness. She got up and started pacing. It was three days before school started and she still didn't have a lesson plan.

Buffy walked back to the desk and picked up a letter. She sat down on the couch and reread it;

"_Dear Miss Summers,_

_Thank you for writing me. I only taught one year at Hogwarts but I will try to be of help._

_When I taught at Hogwarts I focused on dark creatures and how to deal with them. I didn't think it was necessary to deal with dark wizards because Voldemort was supposed to be vanquished. I would do things very differently were I to teach again. Here is what I would focus on:_

_-Popular hexes and counterspells. This can be modified depending on the grade-level._

_-Dark objects and cursed artifacts._

_-Focus on the three Unforgivables and how to counter them._

_-Dealing with creatures that Voldemort has allied himself with before, i.e. vampires, werewolves, giants, dementors, and inferi. _

_-Basic first aid_

_-Poison detection and protection. You may want to work with Professor Snape on this._

_I hope this is helpful and feel free to write if you need more help. _

_Sincerely,_

_Remus Lupin"_

It was Willow who had suggested writing to past defense against the dark arts professors for advice. Buffy was more than a little dismayed to learn that only three were coherent enough to communicate, and that one of those had been locked in a trunk the whole year and the other hadn't taught anything practical.

The list from former professor Lupin helped, though. Buffy took out a piece of paper that had blocks like a calendar and she began to fill in topics. She definitely felt more confident.

The three days sped by quickly and the start of year feast came faster than Buffy expected. She was trying to arrange her teaching robes over her clothes. _Face it,_ she thought, _There's no way these are going to look cute. _A knock at the door interrupted Buffy's thoughts.

"Hey, Buffy," said Willow when Buffy opened the door. "Are you ready for the feast?"

"I'm hungry, that's a good start," said Buffy, still fussing with her robes. "I guess I would be a little conspicuous if I just wore my regular clothes."

"Just a little," said Willow. "They're not so bad, though. I'll be thankful for them on those bloated days."

"You always see the bright side, Willow."

They left and made their way to the Great Hall. The four tables had been moved away from the walls and hangings in the House colors were hanging on the walls. The hall was empty at the moment but soon it would be full of students.

"Are you excited about Dawn being sorted?" asked Willow as Buffy sat down.

"I am. I hope she does well here. And it's a relief to not have her going to school on a Hellmouth."

"She'll do fine," said Willow, moving to take her seat as students started filing into the hall.

Buffy was a little overwhelmed at the sight of the students, there had to be hundreds of them. It was hard to believe that she would be teaching them when not so long ago she would have been one of them.

Another group of students was entering. They were all tiny except one, Dawn. The sorting had begun. Buffy ignored the other students in anticipation of Dawn being sorted. Finally, Professor McGonagall called out "Summers, Dawn" and Dawn sat on the little stool. Buffy noticed that a lot of the students looked puzzled, probably about Dawn's age. It took a little while but the Sorting Hat finally cried out "Gryffindor!"

Dawn squealed and ran to the Gryffindor table.

"Hi, guys! I can't believe I made it into Gryffindor," said Dawn, seating herself next to Harry.

"Congratulations," said Hermione diplomatically.

"Welcome to Gryffindor," said Neville. "I'm Neville Longbottom."

"Hi, Neville," said Dawn.

"I hope you don't take this the wrong way," said Seamus, who was sitting next to Neville, "But aren't you a little old to be just starting at Hogwarts?"

"I'm a transfer student," said Dawn and launched into the explanation of how not so long ago she had been a collection of mystical energy but now she was a human girl and needed a magical education. She would have continued with the mind-numbing explanation but Dumbledore interrupted with his beginning of the year speech.

"Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!" he began. "I know you are all eager to start our delicious feast so I will be brief. We have some new faces at the staff table that deserve introduction. Professor Summers," he indicated Buffy, "Will teach defense against the dark arts and Professor Rosenberg," he indicated Willow, "Will teach muggle studies. Let's give them a warm welcome!"

There was a burst of applause for the new professors.

"I hope that returning students will bear with me when I remind you that the Forbidden Forest is off limits to students. Also, I must remind you that though some students have made this a habit, wandering around the school after dark is forbidden. These are dangerous times and we must all be vigilant. I only have two more words; tuck in!"

Food appeared suddenly on the tables.

"Snape doesn't look too pleased," said Harry.

Ron glanced at Snape.

"How can you tell? He always looks like that."

"He's probably pissed that my sister's teaching," said Dawn. "He was really opposed to appointing her."

"How come?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, he said she was too young and too inexperienced and was too much of a troublemaker," explained Dawn.

"Too much of a troublemaker?" asked Hermione.

"Oh, she burnt down the gym at her first high school and she got into loads of fights at Sunnydale. In her defense, though, vampires were usually involved."

"Wow, Harry," said Ron, "Her record sounds worse than yours. Maybe there's hope for you yet."

"Vampires?" asked Hermione. "So Professor Summers is a vampire slayer? That's why Dumbledore hired her?"

"No," said Dawn, "She's _the_ Slayer with a capital 'S.' The chosen one, to face the forces of darkness, blah blah blah."

Ron frowned. "You mean she _thinks_ she's the Slayer, right? All the stuff about a chosen one is just a myth, I grew up hearing about that."

"No," said Dawn vehemently, "It's real. But I really wasn't supposed to mention it, it's supposed to be a secret. Buffy would kill me if she knew I told."

Harry looked at Hermione who looked at him questioningly. "Your secrets safe with us," he said.

Dawn looked around anxiously. Luckily, everyone in the Hall was talking so loudly that their conversation went unnoticed.

"Thanks, Harry," said Dawn, "That's very nice of you."

Ron choked a little, trying not to snicker and Hermione subtly elbowed him.

"You're from America, right?" asked Lavender, who was sitting across from them.

"Yes, California," said Dawn.

"What's it like?" asked Parvati.

"Well, it's a lot warmer than here and there are malls everywhere. It's kind of isolated here."

"Tell me about it," said Lavender. "Hogsmeade isn't bad but there aren't any clubs or anything like that anywhere near here."

"What do you do for fun around here?" asked Dawn.

"Date," said Parvati. "There are some really cute boys here. Neither of us is into sports but you can play quidditch and there are some clubs. School keeps us pretty busy."

Dumbledore interrupted the conversation again. "Now that we're all fed and undoubtedly sleepy, I must ask the prefects to lead you to your dorms. I must also point out the new Head Girl and Head Boy, Hermione Granger and Ernie Macmillan. I hope you have a good night's sleep before your first classes."

Students started getting up and making their way out of the Hall.

"Follow us," said Lavender.

Ginny and Ron were up and calling for the first years to follow them. Harry left with Hermione, relieved that Dawn was distracted by Lavender and Parvati.

"You really don't like her, do you?" asked Hermione.

Harry shrugged. "I just wish she'd treat me like I was normal. She acts like I'm something under a microscope to study and then ask out on a date. Also, she stole the silverware. You did notice that, right?"

Hermione laughed.

"Actually, I did notice. I was just shocked how brazen she was about it."

They made their way to the portrait of the Fat Lady. Hermione made her way to the front of the crowd.

"The password is 'abraxan,'" said Hermione. "Be sure that you don't forget it."

The portrait swung open and the Gryffindors started climbing through the hole.

"Come on, Dawn," said Parvati. "We'll show you to our dorm."

They walked up a circular staircase and stopped at a door near the top. Lavender opened the door, revealing a room with three beds and a fireplace. There were wide windows showing an exquisite view of the Hogwarts grounds. There was also a door that Lavender said led to the bathroom.

Dawn started unpacking the trunk that Buffy had bought her.

"Did you date anyone in California?" asked Parvati.

Dawn shook her head 'no.'

"I've never really dated anyone seriously," she said. "Some of the guys I've liked start out fine but then they just…change."

"Tell me about it," said Lavender, a little bitterly. "I was dating Ron for awhile, but then he got all hung up on Hermione."

"Hermione's a nice girl," said Parvati, "But I'll never see what Ron sees in her. She's pretty when she puts some effort in it, but she's also really bossy and thinks she knows it all."

"I guess that's why they made her Head Girl," said Dawn.

"So who do you like so far?" asked Lavender.

"Oh, I don't know, I haven't really seen anyone," said Dawn coyly.

"You can tell us," said Parvati.

"Ok, I guess I kind of like Harry Potter," said Dawn.

"Ohh, she's got good taste," said Lavender.

"Yeah, just don't go to any dances with him," said Parvati. "I went to the Yule Ball with him and he completely ignored me."

"But he has grown up nicely," said Lavender.

"Unfortunately, he's pretty attached to Ginny Weasley," said Parvati.

"What?" said Dawn. "All the good guys are taken."

"It's not all bad," said Parvati. "We can introduce you to some cool guys. Now that Ginny's dating Harry, Dean Thomas is free."

"There are plenty of cool guys here," said Lavender.

Dawn climbed into bed.

"I just hope I fit in," said Dawn.

"Don't worry," said Parvati. "Stick with us and you'll do just fine."


	8. Chapter 8

The first day of school still made Buffy nervous, even though she was no longer a student. In fact, that may have made her more nervous. At least she was sure her hair was fine, unlike during her first day at Sunnydale.

Neither Buffy nor Willow talked much on the way to breakfast. Buffy couldn't help feeling sorry for Willow, who definitely suffered more from stage fright than Buffy.

"Are you ok, Willow?"

"Ok?" asked Willow. "Yeah, I'm ok except the feeling that there are bats in my tummy. Oh God, Buffy, what am I doing? What if the class is rowdy? What if they don't respect my authority?"

Her voice was rising in pitch and Buffy saw that she was very close to hyperventilating.

"Willow," Buffy grabbed her arm, "Chill. Breathe. Teaching is natural for you, remember? If any one of us is going to succeed it's you. You've been doing this since you were sixteen, teaching for you is like slaying for me."

Willow seemed to calm down a little.

"Thanks, Buffy. I can do this, I can do this…" Willow trailed off as they entered the Great Hall.

The sun was shining and the ceiling was a beautiful light blue. Buffy was thankful for that, it would make her first double class that much easier.

Professor McGonagall was handing out schedules amongst the Gryffindor table, when she stopped Buffy and Willow. She handed them two notebooks.

"Here are your official rosters. Good luck on your first day, even though I doubt the two of you will need it."

"Thanks," said Buffy and Willow and they walked up to the staff table.

The owls were flying in with the morning post. Buffy was shocked when one landed in front of her and held out its leg. She didn't really have anyone to write to her except Giles. She took the envelope and it flew off to the owlery.

The envelope was made of heavy, expensive paper. She opened it. There was one slip of smooth stationery with a simple note; "_Good luck. –A_"

Buffy instantly felt calm, as she tucked the envelope into her pocket. Willow was watching her and mouthed, "Who is it?"

Buffy mouthed back, "Angel," and Willow smiled and mouthed "Aww."

Buffy reminded herself to write Angel a letter and to ask if he had any info about Captain Peroxide.

Buffy was about to start eating when another owl landed in front of her, this one carrying a small box. Buffy took the box wondering who it could be from. She opened the note attached to the box; "_Buffy, I've been assured by reliable sources (Xander and Anya) that chocolate would be a reasonable start-of-year present. Good luck on your new endeavor, Giles (And Xander and Anya)._" Buffy opened the box and found an assortment of Honeyduke's chocolates. She smiled. Buffy looked up and saw that Willow and Dawn had received similar presents. This was an excellent way to start the morning, if only every morning could be this nice.

Buffy examined her roster with renewed confidence. Today she would be teaching first year Gryffindors in the morning and a seventh year double-period class in the afternoon. The afternoon class was mixed, due to the fact that some students always dropped defense against the dark arts in their later years. Buffy didn't know this, but there was an unusually high number of Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, and Hufflepuffs, who had been in Dumbledore's Army two years ago.

The bell rang and students and teachers began filtering out.

"Do you have class?" Buffy asked Willow.

"Not until this afternoon. Want me to drop your chocolate off at your room?"

"Please," said Buffy. "I'd better go, I guess it would look pretty bad if I was late to my own class."  
"Bye, good luck!" said Willow.

Buffy waved and then ran into something tall and clad in black that fell down with an "Oooph!"

Buffy grudgingly looked down. Professor Snape was sprawled on the ground, looking furious.

"Oh, God, Professor Snape, I'm so sorry. Here, let me help you," she offered him her hand.

"Help yourself," he snarled, refusing her hand and trying to get up with as much dignity as he could muster.

Severus stormed out of the Great Hall and took points off of a pair of Hufflepuffs that were lingering watching him.

_I hope I didn't break him_, thought Buffy as she watched him limp off, _Even if he is the most unpleasant man in the world._

The morning class was easy. They were all first years and had a slightly shell-shocked appearance to them. Buffy couldn't help thinking that they were as scared as she was. They slowly relaxed, though, and so did Buffy. She felt pretty good by the end of class while they were attempting to cast rudimentary protective shields. The students were in pairs, one casting a shield and the other tossing a tennis ball at the shield. If the shield was properly cast the tennis ball would bounce of. In no time the bell rang.

"Don't forget, I want one foot of parchment on theories of magical shields for next class. I promise this will be relevant!"

She smiled as they left, depositing their tennis balls in the basket Buffy provided.

"Bye, Professor Summers," a few of the bold ones said as they left.

After her first class, Buffy had a block of free time to prepare the classroom for the next class. Then Buffy set to letter writing. She wrote a thank-you note to Giles, Xander, and Anya for the chocolates. Then she set about writing to Angel.

"_Dear Angel,"_ she started. She began to write "I miss you," but stopped herself. She had to keep this formal, businesslike. _Well, he started it_, she thought, _Sending me a note out of the blue_. She wrote, "_Thanks for the note. I can't believe you found an owl to go all the way to Scotland. How are you? Things are pretty good, except that Spike has followed me here. He plans to go to Voldemort to get his chip removed. I'm not sure if that's the only reason he's here, though. Do you have any relevant info, anything you think might help? That's all." _Buffy paused. How to end the note? "Sincerely" was too formal, she couldn't say "love." She settled on "_Best wishes, Buffy."_

Buffy had some time left before lunch so she took the letters and went to the owlery. It really was a perfect day and the sun shone invitingly on the lake. She wondered if it was warm and safe to swim in. Who knew what creepies were lurking below the surface? Better to ask Dumbledore before plunging in and finding out the hard way.

She found two owls to send the letters and set back to Hogwarts. As she got closer to the castle she could smell cooking, so she knew it must be lunch time.

She entered the Great Hall and immediately noticed Snape at his usual seat so he couldn't have been hurt too badly. Buffy noticed Dawn sitting at the Gryffindor table. Ignoring the students' eyes on her, she approached. Dawn seemed to be deep in conversation with Harry, though, to be honest, Harry seemed like he wasn't quite paying attention.

"Hey Dawn, how's your first day going?"

"Fine, great, what are you doing here?" said Dawn shortly.

"I'm just checking up on you, but I'm getting my cue to leave, don't worry."

Buffy left feeling a little miffed at first. But then Buffy remembered how she would have felt if her mom had approached her while she was talking to a boy she liked (And it was clear that Dawn liked Harry) and she cheered up. Sometimes it was hard to remember that she was more than just a sister to Dawn, she was a mom now.

She sat down next to Severus.

"Are you ok, Severus?" asked Buffy.

He acted as though he hadn't heard her.

"Excuse me, Severus," she grabbed his arm lightly and he jumped, "I just wanted to make sure you were ok," she said earnestly.

"Never better. Encounters with you are always thrilling," he said, silently willing her to shut up.

"You know, that thing called 'courtesy,'" she said.

"Courtesy involves watching where you're going, you would do well to remember that," said Severus with finality, returning to his meal.

_Fine,_ she thought bitterly, _I tried to be nice and he just doesn't speak that language. I won't let him ruin my meal._

Buffy left lunch early in order to go over her notes a final time and to prepare herself. She heard the bell ring and students start to walk past the door. Buffy opened the door. Students started filing in within minutes. She recognized Hermione from Madame Malkin's, who sat up front with Ron on her right and Harry on her left. Dawn came in next and sat next to Harry. Students were drifting in in groups of twos and threes. Buffy noticed that the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs, and Ravenclaws all sat on one side of the room, and the few Slytherins sat in a knot on the opposite side of the room.

Buffy stood up from behind her desk and leaned on the front.

"Hello, and welcome to defense against the dark arts. I'm Professor Summers. I'd like to begin class with a roll call."

She thought she heard snickering from the Slytherins and she cast a glance at them. There was silence.

Buffy continued.

"Abbot, Hannah?"

Hannah, who was sitting behind Dawn, nodded, paler and thinner than she had been last year when her mother was killed by Death Eaters.

"Bones, Susan?"

Susan, who raised her hand, was sitting right up front next to Dawn. She looked very serious.

"Boot, Terry?"

Terry said "here" from the middle of the classroom.

"Brown, Lavender?"

Lavender waved from behind Harry.

"Crabbe, Vincent?"

Crabbe grunted from the very back of the classroom.

"Davis, Tracey?"

A sallow Slytherin girl nodded curtly.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin?"

"Here" said Justin in a clear voice.

"Finnigan, Seamus?"

Seamus said "here" from two seats behind Ron.

"Goyle, Gregory?"

Goyle grunted from in front of Crabbe.

"Granger, you're going to have to help me out with this…" Buffy trailed off.

"Hermione," Hermione pronounced slowly.

"Hermione," repeated Buffy.

"Longbottom, Neville?"

"Here," said Neville from behind Ron, taller than last year and looking quietly determined.

"Macmillan, Ernie?"

"Here," said Ernie from behind Susan.

"Malfoy, Draco?"

"Here," said Draco loudly from next to Goyle.

"Nott, Theodore?"

Theodore raised his hand silently from in front of Draco.

"Parkinson, Pansy?"

"Here," said Pansy from next to Draco.

"Patil, Padma?"

"Here," said Padma seriously.

"Patil, Parvati?"

"Hello," said Parvati from behind Hermione.

"Hello Parvati," said Buffy.

"Potter, Harry?"

"Here," said Harry quietly. He waited for the usual scan of his forehead but it never came. He began to relax.

"Summers, Dawn?"

"Hi," said Dawn.

Buffy nodded in response.

"Thomas, Dean?"

Dean raised his hand from behind Neville.

"Weasley, Ron?"

Ron nodded from the front of the room.

"Ok, everybody's here," said Buffy more to herself than to anyone else.

Buffy surveyed the room. The atmosphere was quiet and grave.

"I'm here to teach you advanced defense against the dark arts, and I mean advanced. What you're going to learn in this class is potentially dangerous but it also has the potential to save your life."

Draco was whispering to Pansy throughout most of what Buffy was saying.

"That is," Buffy said, her voice rising, "If you pay attention." She glared at Draco and he was silenced for the moment.

"The world outside is dangerous," she continued. "The Ministry of Magic doesn't want you to believe it but Voldemort has returned."

Several people in the class gasped at the mention of Voldemort's name. Ron gulped and bit his lip. Justin knocked the notebook off of his desk. Parvati broke the tip of her quill.

"Some of you have suffered the consequences of his return," she looked out at the class. "Before we start I would like to briefly go over the syllabus."

Buffy summoned a pile of papers from her desk and started handing them out.

Draco skimmed his copy and started to snicker.

Buffy stopped handing out the papers.

"Excuse me, is something funny?"

Draco looked at her silently.

"I mean, it had to be you saying something very funny because it wasn't me. When I say something funny, you'll know, there will be laughter and whatnot."

Draco looked at her, outraged.

"I thought so," said Buffy, and continued handing out syllabi.

Harry and Ron had to choke back snickers and even Hermione smiled.

Buffy began her explanation when everyone had a syllabus.

"We'll be meeting twice a week, for one double-period and one single period. I've divided the double period in half. The first half we'll work on the theoretical and the second half we'll be working on practical applications including fighting techniques."

She paused to allow the class to take this in. Draco raised his hand.

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy?"

"How exactly are fighting techniques going to help us against dark wizards?" asked Draco.

"I'm sure you meant to add a 'Professor Summers' to that. Anyway," Buffy said, "Say you've disarmed your opponent and you're in a scuffle over their wand. I can teach you how to fight efficiently. You need to be in good shape to excel at dueling, you need good reflexes and fast thinking. Fighting technique can help you if you get disarmed and have to make a fast escape. Does anyone else have any questions?"

The class was silent.

"Ok," said Buffy. "We're going to start the term discussing popular hexes and counter-spells. This will include first aid to repair spell damage. Then, we'll be moving on to the three Unforgivables. From the three Unforgivables, we'll be moving to cursed objects and artifacts including identification and neutralization. There will also be a section on poison detection and protection. Finally, we well study the creatures that Voldemort has aligned himself with, such as dementors, inferi, werewolves, and vampires.

"When I was your age I hated homework and I've tried to keep the work to the minimum. But we have to face the fact that this is your NEWT year. Besides knowing this for your NEWTS, you should know this knowledge for the sake of yourselves and your families. As a result, I've decided there will be brief weekly quizzes to ensure that you're doing the reading and paying attention in class. Some of these quizzes will be practical. There will also be four exams, one per subject that we study. Two of these exams will be practical. Fighting techniques will be included on the practical exams. I'm not asking that you become black belts in karate, I want to see that you are trying and making progress. Are there any questions so far?"

No one had any questions.

"Ok, let's get started," said Buffy. "Who can tell me what a hex is?"

Hermione raised her hand.

"Miss Granger?"

"A hex, unlike a charm, has negative connotations. It's a spell that causes harm, usually physical, to the victim."

"Very good, you've read this book before?" asked Buffy.

"Just the first couple of chapters, I skimmed the rest."

"Good work," said Buffy approvingly. _I think we've found Willow's twin,_ she thought.

"Miss Granger, what's the difference between a hex and a jinx?"  
"A jinx is supposed to be less serious than a hex, even though I think that's a pretty pointless distinction."

"Why?"  
"Well," said Hermione, "If the point is to harm you, then does it really matter if it's a trip jinx or if it's Avada Kedavra?"  
"Interesting point," said Buffy. "Five points to Gryffindor. We're going to be covering the most serious jinxes here. I won't teach you how to cast them but I will teach you how to counter them and fix damage caused by them.

Jinxes can be divided into these categories, depending on the damage they can do," said Buffy. She tapped the blackboard and her notes scrawled across.

The class spent the rest of the period taking notes on the different categories of jinxes. The bell rang, indicating the first half of class was over.

"Did everyone bring their sweats?" Buffy asked.

The class responded with "yeahs" and nods 'yes.'

"Great," said Buffy. "We're going to go to the bathrooms and you're going to change and we're going to have your first fighting lesson. Oh, I should tell you, if I catch anybody practicing what I teach you outside of a classroom setting I will have to take off points. I'm not doing this so you can learn to pummel each other more effectively, I'm doing this to help save your lives. You can leave your bags here, the door is warded."

The class filed out with an air of growing excitement. Buffy used magic to change into her workout clothes and was relieved when the spell worked.

The day was bright, beautiful, and warm. It was almost a California kind of day.

Buffy led the class in some warm up stretches.

"First we're going to do some cardio," said Buffy. "I'm making it easy for the first day, I want a lap around the castle.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Start running," she said.

The students started around the castle, with Harry, Ron and Hermione in the front. Hermione didn't look terribly pleased, though. The rest of the class followed, with Crabbe and Goyle bringing up the rear. Buffy easily ran to catch up with them and made her way to the front. Around the castle was easy for Buffy but she noticed it wasn't easy for everyone else. Hermione had fallen behind with Padma, Parvati, and Lavender. Crabbe and Goyle were huffing and puffing and dripping with sweat. She gave the class a minute to catch their breath before starting again.

"Ok, now you're going to give me ten push-ups. I'm not asking for a lot because it's your first day."

The class groaned but complied with her.

When they were done, Buffy had the class stand in three lines.

"The first thing I'm going to teach you is how to punch. Punching is a basic offensive move. Everyone make a fist."  
Buffy went through the lines, checking the students' form.

"Hermione, you don't want your thumb in your fist, you want to tuck it under. Otherwise, you'll hurt it when you punch the other person. Anyone else that's doing that should take their thumbs out."

Buffy taught the class the difference between a standard punch, a hook, and an uppercut.

"The more you practice, the more this will come to you instinctually, which is what you want to happen if you're ever in a dangerous situation. You don't want to have to think, you just want to do."

Finally, they heard the bell from within.

"You're all dismissed," said Buffy. "This has been a great first class, the next double period we'll be practicing with punching bags. Don't forget to read the next chapter for next class."

The students shuffled into the castle, exhausted. Some looked pleased and proud while others looked murderous.

Buffy passed Severus on the way to her room.

"Miss Summers, I wasn't aware that Hogwarts had a gym class," he sneered, looking at her sweats.

"Well, maybe Hogwarts could use one. Some of your Slytherins could really use the exercise," said Buffy, jauntily making her way up the stairs.

It was a good day.

**AN: Sorry for the intensely long chapter and how long it took to update. I've been really busy with my not-internet life. Also, it was really important to me to keep the chapter in one piece, instead of dividing it in two.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Warning: Bad poetry ahead!**

It was two weeks later.

Severus Snape got to his knees and kissed the hem of the Dark Lord's robes.

"Rise," said Voldemort.

Severus rose and kept his face respectfully cast downwards. Lucius Malfoy, who was kneeling next to Severus, repeated the process. The Malfoy patriarch's façade of perfection and iciness was faltering since his escape from Azkaban. His eyes, which before had held no sign of conscience, were haunted and there were dark circles under them. Lucius had lost a good fifteen pounds while in Azkaban and now stood gaunt and rumpled with those crazy eyes. He was cracking, in the opinion of Severus, and people who cracked while serving the Dark Lord died.

Neither man was masked, as they were alone with Voldemort.

"What do you have to tell me?" asked Voldemort.

Severus spoke.

"My Lord," those words were always repugnant in his throat. "I have news of the Slayer."

Voldemort nodded, indicating that Severus should continue.

"A vampire has approached us," continued Severus. "His name is Spike but he has also gone by William the Bloody. He is barely 120-years-old but he has already killed two slayers."

"Continue," said Voldemort. Severus could tell that his interest was piqued.

Severus took a book from out of the pocket of his robe. He opened it and gave it to Voldemort.

"This is an account of their deaths and his exploits."

Voldemort took the book in his skeletal hand and skimmed the pages. Severus didn't start speaking again until Voldemort was looking up.

"He wants to meet you and make a deal. Apparently, the United States government was experimenting with demonology and created a microchip—a kind of muggle technology—that controls his behavior and renders him harmless. Spike was implanted with this chip. He has offered to kill the Slayer if you remove it."

"This is most interesting," said Voldemort quietly. "Kill the Slayer? That would be one less barrier to Harry Potter, one less wall protecting Hogwarts and that wretched muggle-lover Dumbledore. And this Spike is very impressive," he held the book up, "He has managed to wreak much havoc in a little over 100 years."

Voldemort tented his fingers and turned to Severus. "What say you, Severus? What do you think?" he peered at Severus.

"His record is impressive, my Lord. But, I must note," said Severus, being careful to sound neutral and keep his mind blank, "That he has had ample opportunity to kill the Slayer before he had the chip. He has always failed. I wonder about his ability to kill her. I have also heard that he has had affection for her, that they were in a relationship."

"He could kill her if he didn't have the chip," said Lucius, speaking for the first time. "Take the chip out first and see what he does to the muggles," he said with a laugh.

"Interesting," said Voldemort. "And if he betrays us we can just stake him. I daresay I like the way you're thinking, Lucius. It's nice to see you doing that again."

Lucius's eyes glinted like dull razorblades. Severus was silent.

"Very well," said Voldemort. "I will meet him one week from tonight. You will bring him to me," he said, rising.

"You honor us with this assignment," said Lucius hoarsely.

"You honor us," murmured Severus.

Both men bowed before Voldemort and he dismissed them with an imperious wave of his hand.

Severus and Lucius turned and left. They walked down the corridor, left the building, and walked to the area to where they could apparate.

"Good night," said Lucius.

Severus nodded and disapparated back to the gates of Hogwarts. Back to where he would tell Dumbledore how he tried to save Buffy but Voldemort just felt like taking a risk on the vampire. Then Dumbledore would figure out a plan and tell him what to do the next time Voldemort summoned him and when Voldemort summoned him he would tell Severus how to act at Hogwarts and the whole cycle was giving him a headache just thinking of it.

Speaking of headaches, there was Buffy up the path, silhouetted in the glow of the full moon. Buffy with a gun.

"We have to stop meeting this way," she said.

"I could live happily without us meeting at all," he glanced at the gun slung across her back. "Are you Buffy the Vampire Shooter now?"

"It's a tranquilizer gun, I always bring it during the full moon. In case there are werewolves, then I don't have to kill them."

Severus snorted.

"What? Werewolves are people twenty-eight days of the month."

"Barely," Severus said indignantly. It was like she had used radar and had purposely honed in on one of the subjects that irritated him the most.

"One of my friends back home is a werewolf," said Buffy. "He's more human than you act sometimes."

"You don't know what you're talking about," snarled Severus.

He hurried to get ahead of Buffy and was pleased when she didn't try to follow him. Severus was walking down the stairs to the dungeon when he heard that voice again.

"Wait."

Severus turned.

"This had better be compelling."

"Have you seen Spike around lately?" Buffy asked. "Because I haven't and I like to know what he's up to. I don't even know where he's staying."

There was an expression on her face that he had never seen before, was it fear? No, worry.

Severus shook his head 'no.'

"I haven't seen Spike, but Voldemort would like to meet him."

"Thank you," Buffy said.

He turned on his heel and left.

The next night Spike was smoking on the front steps of the Shrieking Shack. Buffy had just passed by on her patrol, and he was pretty sure that she was unaware of where he was living. He had kept a very low profile.

He reread the letter that he had just received.

"_He will see you one week from yesterday. Meet me at the Three Broomsticks at 11:30 pm. S.S."_

Spike laughed out loud. Soon he'd have that damn chip out of his head and he would be the creature he was before he came to Sunnydale and met that bitch of a slayer.

Was it his imagination or was there a response to his laughter?

Spike strained to hear. He thought he could hear a shuffling step and the rustle of fabric. He was still. Someone was definitely walking nearby, around the other side of the house. Spike slowly and quietly made his way around the corner. He was prepared to surprise whatever it was that was stalking him but he was surprised himself.

A woman was standing next to one of the lilac bushes that grew next to the house. She was holding a cluster of the flowers in her hand and was pulling the petals off one by one.

"The flowers, they're all wilting," she said softly.

"What are you doing here?"

She looked up and the waning moonlight glinted in her dangerous eyes.

"He loves me, he loves me not," she said and continued to pluck. "He loves me," she said and threw the petals in the air like confetti. Some landed in her hair but she paid no mind.

"The moon, it whispers to me, pssst, pssst, pssssst, it told me where you were."

Spike looked at her coldly.

"You left me for a fungus demon, Drusilla. You're not who I want to see."

"No, I'm not, not yet. But when the cold man plucks the chip out of your head, then you'll want to see me. Things are changing," she said. "Soon everything will be different."

He noticed that she had a purse dangling from her wrist. Drusilla opened it up and took out a pack of cards. She plucked one from the middle and handed it to Spike. He looked at the card. It had a picture of a heart hovering over a castle and emanating rays like a sun.

Drusilla started to wander off, singing softly under her breath.

"Wait, what does this mean? Drusilla!" he called.

She turned and smiled and did a little dance.

"Love is in the air," she said.

"Where are you staying? You know if the Slayer catches you that she'll kill you."

Drusilla walked away.

Dawn blamed what happened next on Professor Snape. If he hadn't set an assignment about the uses of aconite, then she never would have been in the Restricted Section of the library that night with Harry, Hermione and Ron. She wouldn't have been so bored that she decided to take a walk and stretch her legs. Dawn was walking down one of the aisles when one of the books fell off the shelf at her feet.

The book had fallen open to a page. Dawn looked down and read; "_Ashwinder eggs are used in the most potent love spells, along with…"_ That's when Dawn had the idea. A love spell was what she needed! Not a major one, just one to make Harry notice that she was alive. Dawn looked at the book that had practically flung itself at her. Its cover was made of a greasy, red leather and it was called _Fair and Foul: Love Spells in Theory and in Practice_.

Dawn took the book to a secluded corner of the library and began to read. After about half an hour she found what she wanted.

"_A Spell to Turn the Eye_

_**Ingredients**_

-_A heaping scoop of frozen ashwinder eggs, ground to a fine powder_

_-Two ginger roots, one carved in a likeness of you, the other carved in a likeness of the desired_

_-A small pinch of lovage_

_-One peacock feather_

_-Personal affects of yourself and the beloved. A photo will work but something off of the body is better_

_-Red string_

_-A rose quartz_

_Stoke a fire with the frozen powdered ashwinder eggs. Tie your beloved's personal affects onto their poppet with the red spring, and yours onto your poppet._

_Toss the peacock feather into the fire and say—_

"_Make me the most beautiful in his/her eyes,_

_Blind him/her to me."_

_Start binding the two poppets together with the red string until you've wrapped one third off the poppets together._

_Toss the rose quartz into the fire and say—_

"_Romantic love, his/her heartstrings ties,_

_Bind him/her to me."_

_Continue wrapping the poppets until another third is wrapped._

_Toss the pinch of lovage into the fire and say—_

"_Confusion, half truths, not lies,_

_Bind him/her to me."_

_Finish wrapping the poppets together. _

_Toss the bound poppets into the fire and say—_

"_While so bound he/her won't be wise,_

_Bind him/her to me."_

_Allow the fire to burn out. It will leave behind a glittery, pink-tinted residue. Sprinkle this over your beloved while they sleep and when they wake you will be all they will see!"_

Dawn returned to the table where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting. Ginny had also joined them, and much to Dawn's annoyance, was sitting next to Harry. She had the book under her arm and hoped they couldn't read the title.

It didn't look like they were working on potions homework anymore. There was a map of the United Kingdom spread in front of them and there were several black "x's" in different spots.

Ron and Hermione were sitting next to each other, holding hands, and poring through a huge book.

"Turn the page, Ron. There it is," Hermione pointed to a column. "It says that the property switched hands in 1956, and again in 1989. It's an office—"

Hermione jumped when she saw Dawn standing there.

"Hey, Dawn. Hermione is helping us with muggle studies," said Ginny smoothly.

"Oh, ok, well I'm really tired, I'm going to go," said Dawn.

She hoped that she sounded calm, her heart was pounding. Dawn collected her things and left. When she was safely out of sight, she took out the book and a piece of paper. She opened the book to the page, said "Effingo," and pointed at the paper. The spell was copied onto the blank piece. Dawn left the book on one of the tables and left the library quickly. She had a plan, now all she had to do was carry it out.


	10. Chapter 10

"I think it's a bad idea," said Severus as he walked into the Great Hall with Dumbledore. "Is there nothing I can say to dissuade you from this?"

"I'm afraid not, Severus, my mind is quite made up, and the rest of the staff agrees with me. I think it's an excellent idea, besides, you could use some revelry."

Severus "harrumphed" & swept off to his seat.

It was Saturday evening and students were trickling into the Great Hall for dinner. When the hall was filled, Dumbledore clinked his fork against his goblet and stood up. "May I have your attention, students, before you start another delicious meal? I have an announcement to make. After much discussion, the staff and I have decided that Hogwarts will have a dance."

The room erupted in excited chatter. Dumbledore cleared his throat to regain attention.

"Yes, I know, Hogwarts does not usually host dances except under extraordinary circumstances such as during the Triwizard Tournament, but we've decided that considering the unfortunate events of the world, the school could use some levity. The dance will be held on Halloween night and it is a costume ball. It is open to all ages. I'll leave you to discuss this undoubtedly exciting news."

Dumbledore sat down with his eyes Twinkling™.

Everyone at the Gryffindor table was talking. Ron looked at Hermione and noticed she was smirking.

"What's so funny?" he asked.

"You knew about this, didn't you?" asked Harry.

Hermione laughed. "Yes, he told Ernie and I, and we were sworn to secrecy. Dumbledore wanted our opinion."

"What did you say?" asked Ron.

"I said I thought the school could use something cheerful. These are difficult times, you know that. We could use something happy. It will be fun, that is if some of us remember to ask us not as a last resort," she finished, looking very smug.

"Some of us aren't sure if we should, after all, you did keep this a secret," said Ron.

"I had to! I was sworn to secrecy, Ronald."

Ron sighed. "Hermione,willyougotothedancewithme?" he asked very quietly and very quickly, flushing to his ears.

Hermione gave him an appraising glance. "I'll think about it," she said.

"What!?" Ron fairly shouted

Ginny and Harry laughed at Ron. Normally, Dawn would have joined in but she seemed preoccupied and wasn't paying attention.

"Of course I'll go with you, Ron," Hermione said, blushing. "But we're going to have to work, too, we're supposed to help the professors chaperone."

Ron groaned. "Harry, want to be a prefect?"

Harry grinned. "No, Ron, I have enough work to do as the Boy-Who-Lived."

Harry acted light-hearted but worry was gnawing at him. He wanted to ask Ginny to the dance but he also worried about his increasing affection for her. He was dangerous, a literally marked man or at least a marked teenager, and he didn't want to do anything that would put Ginny in danger. Voldemort would do anything to get to Harry, including going after the ones he loved.

_But, it's just a dance_, he thought. _How much can that hurt?_

How could he get attached to Ginny when he knew he would be facing some very real danger? Every moment that he wasn't working on school and quidditch was spent trying to figure out the location of Voldemort's horcruxes. Harry thought of Dumbledore's withered, blackened hand and wondered if the ring was easy to find and defuse.

_It's a little late to worry about becoming attached to Ginny_, he thought. If someone told him in second year that he would feel the way he felt about Ginny he would have laughed.

Harry realized that he had stopped eating entirely while Ron and Hermione continued to talk and hastily started to eat again.

"Are you ok, Harry?" Ginny asked as if on cue.

"Yeah, I'm just thinking," he said.

"About…you know?" she said. They had taken to calling the horcruxes the "you know whats" in public.

Ginny didn't say anything but lightly brushed his hand with hers.

Now it was Harry's turn to blush.

He made his decision. It was just a dance and he deserved some happiness. He was going to ask Ginny, it was just a matter of finding the right moment.

Later that night, Dawn was sitting with Lavender and Parvati in the common room. Their charms homework was spread out on a table but they weren't so much working as gossiping. Dawn wasn't worried, she had agreed to study with them because she needed help. She was having trouble finding some ingredients for her spell. The ginger, string, and rose quartz had been easy enough to find, and she had ordered lovage and a peacock feather from an herbal catalogue that she had found advertised in _The Daily Prophet_, but she was having trouble finding ashwinder eggs.

"Lavender, I have a question," Dawn began. "Do you know where I could get ashwinder eggs?"

Lavender and Parvati exchanged glances.

"Someone's working on a love spell," said Parvati. "Who's it on?"

"Guess," said Dawn.

Parvati nodded but looked anxious. "Are you sure you want to do a love spell? They can be really messy and they're really illegal."

"It's not really a big spell," said Dawn, "Just something to get his attention, make him see that I'm alive."

"The only place I can think of to get ashwinder eggs is Professor Snape's personal stores. They're highly regulated because they're so commonly used in love spells. Who knows what _he_ would do with them," said Lavender.

"They're used in some heating potions and I think they can be added to Pepperup Potion," added Parvati.

"So I'd have to steal from Professor Snape? Yeah, I'll get away with that," said Dawn. Professor Snape seemed to hate Dawn as much as he hated Buffy.

"Or…," said Lavender.

"Or what?"

"There's this girl in fifth year, Romilda Vane. She tried to use a love potion on Harry and I've heard that she has some experience with love spells. Romilda might have some ashwinder eggs," explained Lavender.

"Just don't tell her it's for Harry or she'll jinx you," said Parvati with a giggle.

"Like I'd tell anyone who it's for. Well, besides you guys. Thanks for the help!" said Dawn, bouncing out of her seat.

"Wait, Dawn!" said Parvati.

"Hmm?"

"Be careful," she said.

"I will, don't worry, this will be great!" said Dawn.

Dawn ran up to the fifth-year girls' dorm and knocked on the door.

"Enter," someone said from inside.

"Hi," Dawn said as she walked in. "I'm Dawn Summers, I'm in seventh year. I'm looking for Romilda Vane."

There was a dark-haired girl sitting on one of the beds, reading a book, but it didn't seem like anyone else was in.

"You've found her," said Romilda, glancing at Dawn appraisingly. "What do you want?" she asked, picking up her book again.

"I need your help with something, I heard you have experience with these kind of…things," said Dawn.

Romilda stared at her and Dawn continued.

"Do you have any ashwinder eggs?"

"Nope," said Romilda. "They're illegal, anyway."

"I heard about what you did," said Dawn. "I'm pretty sure you have what I need. What do you want?"

Romilda finally put her book down.

"Let me see the spell."

Dawn reached into her pocket and pulled out the now crumpled piece of paper. Romilda scanned it.

"I used a love potion by Weasley's Wizard Wheezes and that worked well, at least it would have if he'd actually eaten the damn chocolates. Why don't you just order a bottle?"

"Because I don't want a love spell, I just want Ha—Neville—to know that I'm alive."

Romilda's eyes narrowed. "Who is this for?"

"Neville. I said Neville. I just had to cough," Dawn broke off in a fit of coughing.

"Neville? Neville Longbottom? You could just ask him out, I'm sure he'd be thrilled if a girl noticed him," said Romilda.

"No, I'm too shy," said Dawn.

Romilda shrugged. "Twenty galleons."

"Huh?" asked Dawn.

"I'll give you what you need for twenty galleons."

Dawn quickly did the calculations. "That's 100 pounds!"

Romilda thought. "I'll go down to ten galleon if you do two-weeks of my potions homework."

Dawn groaned.

"Hey, it wasn't easy to get them!"

"How did you get ashwinder eggs, anyway?" asked Dawn.

"My dad owns an apothecary mail-order business. I nicked some from the warehouse, but you have to be careful. Ministry regulations say you can only have so much at one time so it's easy for him to notice if any is stolen."

"Fine," Dawn said. "I'll get you your money."

"I'll get you your eggs."

Dawn left and ran into her room. She kept her money in a jewelry box in her trunk. She was left with five galleons to do Christmas shopping with. Dawn hoped that she wouldn't have to ask Buffy for money.

Dawn returned to the sixth year dorm and gave Romilda her money. Romilda counted the money and slipped it into a silk pouch. She handed Dawn a small metal box. Dawn opened it and found a bit of bright red powder.

"Keep it away from fire, or you'll burn the dorm down. And don't let anyone know you have it, we both could get into a lot of trouble," advised Romilda.

"I won't tell if you won't tell," said Dawn.

"Deal," and they shook hands.

Dawn went back to the seventh years' dorm and tucked the metal box into a corner in her trunk.

The lovage and peacock's feather would arrive in about a week. That would bring her to the beginning of October. It would be nice if Harry would take her to the Halloween dance. Dawn got out her planner and marked a day, one week into October.

"You see, that's what I hate about you vampires. You have no respect for the dead," said Buffy.

The vampire in a black tunic turned around, surprised.

Buffy used her advantage and staked him before he knew what happened.

The crypt had been pried open with a crowbar, which Buffy picked up. She entered the crypt and found two more vampires in the black tunics, ransacking one of the tombs. Buffy hit the second vampire on the head with the crowbar, hard. Then she staked him as he sagged forward.

The light in the crypt was dim but Buffy was able to see that the remaining vampire seemed fairly young, recently changed. He was wearing a black tunic like the others and was clutching an amulet.

"Ok, we can do this the hard way," she said. "Actually, there only is the hard way but sometimes it's the fun way."

Buffy swung at the vampire with the crowbar but missed.

"You don't scare me," he said. "I will proudly give my life for my master."

"Ok, we'll play it your way. Who's your master? I did not just say that," said Buffy.

The vampire made a move to leave the crypt. Buffy let him out, then slammed him into a tree that stood immediately outside. She grabbed the collar of his tunic, easily lifted him, and impaled his shirt to the tree using the crowbar.

"I will never betray him!"

"So, I know it's a 'he.' Let's try again, who's your master?" Buffy punched him in the face.

He spit out a mouthful of blood and sneered at her. His arms flailed as he tried to free himself.

Buffy noticed that he was still holding the amulet.

"What's this?" She grabbed his hand and started to squeeze it. He cried out in pain and as she let go of his hand he dropped the amulet.

The amulet consisted of a deep green stone with red flecks and it hung on a heavy silver chain.

"It's nice," said Buffy, "But girls usually like something a little more subtle." She pocketed the amulet and the vampire howled and desperately snatched to get it back.

Buffy punched the vampire in the gut.

"Now tell me who you work for and I promise, I will stake you nice and quick."

The vampire glared at Buffy insolently.

Buffy sighed. "Why do you want to make this difficult?"

She took off the silver cross that she wore and dangled it by the chain in front of him. Then, she quickly pressed it against his forehead. There was a sizzling sound and a wisp of smoke. Buffy held the cross there for ten, twenty seconds and then took it off. There was a black scorch mark on the vampire's forehead. Beads of sweat dripped down his face.

Severus was returning from an evening stroll—a regular evening stroll, not a walk from a meeting with Voldemort--when he heard a commotion at the cemetery. He followed the noise to where Buffy was torturing the vampire for information.

"Now are you ready to tell me?" asked Buffy as Severus walked towards her.

She seemed to be doing a good job torturing the vampire but she was also making enough noise to wake the dead. Subtlety was clearly not her forte. Yet, there was something fascinating about watching Buffy work. Clearly, there was more mettle to her than her ditzy, blonde exterior exposed, he admitted grudgingly.

The vampire shook his head sullenly.

"Ok," Buffy said, "I hate to do this to nice jewelry but—" she reached out and pinched his nose.

The vampire opened his mouth and Buffy jammed the cross in, then slammed his jaw shut. Smoke instantly started to pour out of his mouth and nose. Buffy held the cross in until she sensed he was breaking.

"Who do you work for?" asked Buffy.

"I'm a Knight of Walpurgis! That's all I'm telling," said the vampire, who no longer struggled against his binding.

Buffy sensed something moving behind her and instinctually turned, her stake in hand, totally prepared to face another vampire. She didn't stake Severus Snape, she stopped about an inch from his heart. To Severus's credit he didn't flinch.

"Do you ever just walk up to people and say 'hi?' That's how humans usually do these things."

"You were busy. Also, you've made enough noise to raise the dead. I'm surprised that you haven't attracted every vampire in the village."

Buffy shrugged unconcernedly, although he noted that she did look around nervously.

She returned her attention to the vampire, who was trying to wriggle his way free again.

"I don't think you're going to get anymore out of him," said Severus.

"You're probably right," said Buffy. She staked the vampire and pried the crowbar from the tree.

"You just hurt that tree, have you no regard for property?" asked Severus, irritatedly.

He walked over to where there was a large gash in the tree, took out his wand and whispered something softly. A green light began to grow within the gash and slowly the tree knitted itself back together.

"That's the problem with you muggle-borns, you have no respect for nature. That tree was yew, it's very useful in potions and in wand-making.

"I'm sorry," said Buffy, "I didn't—"

"Know, of course."

"Look, I'm doing the best I can here. Dumbledore saw fit to hire me, I don't even know why. You're right, I am ignorant about the magical world, but you could at least respect Dumbledore's decision. I'm here to stay," said Buffy with finality.

She walked back to the crypt.

"Where are you going?" asked Severus.

"I want to find out who the vampires were stealing from."

Buffy said "_lumos orbis"_ and an orb of light emerged from her wand and hovered above her. She directed it into the tomb and it illuminated the corpse.

"I don't see any more artifacts," said Buffy.

"Let me see the amulet," demanded Severus.

Buffy looked at him and said, "Rude much?" but she took the amulet out of her pocket.

Severus laid the amulet on top of a tomb in the middle of the crypt.

"Did you even attempt to ascertain if this was cursed before you pocketed it?"

Buffy opened her mouth to answer but Severus cut her off, disgustedly.

"No, of course you didn't. Let's hope you remember to teach your students better."

Buffy turned to the plaque that had sealed the tomb, her cheeks burning with embarrassment. Of course he was right. She had been caught up in the moment and had forgotten entirely about safety.

She bent over the broken bits of the plaque in an effort to conceal her embarrassment.

She said "_Reparo_" and the pieces reattached and the cracks smoothed out. Buffy picked it up easily and laid it next to the amulet.

In the light she read "Septimus Weasley."

"Do you know who that is?" she asked Severus.

Severus shook his head "no." "I just know the surname. He's a Weasley, as if we don't have enough of those wandering Hogwarts."

"Ron and Ginny, they're in my classes. Are they a very old family?"

Severus snorted. "They're a very old pureblood family, notorious muggle-lovers, not very well-to-do like some pureblood families."

"Well," said Buffy, "If whoever wants this amulet is using vampires as workers, then they're probably not a good guy. Why would a Weasley be buried with something like that?"

Severus shrugged.

"What is that, anyway?"

Having decided that it was safe enough, Severus picked the necklace up by the chain and let it dangle in the light.

"It's a bloodstone, fairly common in amulets to alleviate fear," Severus frowned. Nothing was making any sense.

"I don't think we're going to find anything more in here," said Buffy, replacing the plaque over the tomb.

Severus nodded. Buffy moved the crypt door back into its frame and murmured "_Reparo."_ The pry marks from the crowbar disappeared and the door solidly protected the crypt again.

Buffy and Severus walked back to Hogwarts together. Buffy swung her crowbar back and forth.

"Why are you carrying that with you?" asked Severus.

"Oh," said Buffy. "I guess it never hurts to have a crowbar around. What's a Knight of Walpurgis?"  
Severus stiffened up and looked at her. "Where did you hear about that?"

"The vampire said he was a Knight of Walpurgis, you know who or what that is?"

Severus sighed. "It's a very old name for Death Eaters, what they were called when they were first formed."

"So I guess Voldemort's been able to recruit some vamps to work for him."  
"This is happening much faster than we anticipated," said Severus.

"If it's any comfort, these vamps were very young. They had to be made recently."

"He may have a vampire siring new vampires just to work for him."

"I guess this is one of those things we take to Dumbledore," said Buffy.

"You guessed correctly," said Severus.

They walked to Hogwarts in silence. The halls were empty because it was after eleven.

Severus said "sugar quills" to the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office and stepped on the staircase without looking to see if Buffy was following him.

"Does Dumbledore ever sleep?" asked Buffy.

"Not that I know of," said Severus.

He knocked on the door and opened it when he heard "come in."

"Severus and Miss Summers, another evening visit?" asked Dumbledore, inclining his head.

"We found something while I was patrolling," said Buffy.

"You were patrolling together?" asked Dumbledore.

"No," said Severus quickly, "I was out for a walk and I heard Miss Summers making enough noise to raise the dead."

"I will try to be more polite the next time I have to torture a vampire for information," snapped Buffy.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and they both shut up.

"What did you find?"

"This," said Severus, taking the amulet from one of the pockets in his robes. "It's safe," he added.

Dumbledore picked up the amulet and let the silver chain slide through his fingers. The stone was large, about the size of an egg. Dumbledore felt along the stone, and then pushed down on the clasp that held the stone to the chain.

The stone flipped open like a pocket watch. Buffy and Severus both gasped in surprise. There was a folded piece of parchment in the stone. Dumbledore touched it and it started to unfold by itself, over and over again, until it was the size of a map. It was covered with strange writing.

"Are you familiar with this language, Severus?"

"No, I've never seen anything like it before."

"Neither have I," said Dumbledore. "Severus, I want you to do some research into who this Septimus Weasley was. He may hold a clue as to what this amulet is for and what this means. I will try to solve this parchment."

Dumbledore moved to fold the parchment and it folded itself back up and nestled itself in the amulet. With that the stone closed.

"Oh, and the vampires I got this from were all wearing tunics and said they were Knights of Walpurgis," said Buffy. "Severus said that that's an old name for death eaters."

"Indeed, it is," said Dumbledore. "It seems that Tom has convinced some vampires to work for him."

"Why would they work for Voldemort?" asked Buffy. "The vampires I've dealt with are pretty self-centered, they don't really like having bosses."

"I can only imagine," said Dumbledore, "That Tom must have made them promises of power in the new world that Tom would create. Plenty of muggles and muggle-born to feed on and no more living on the edges of society."

"What can I do to help?" asked Buffy.

"Keep patrolling," said Dumbledore. "Do you read the newspapers?"

"I read _The Daily Prophet_ to look for suspicious deaths in the area."

"I don't think that Tom would create vampires from muggles, I imagine he'd only use witches and wizards. Keep scouring the paper."

Buffy nodded.

"Goodnight, Headmaster," she said as she left.

"Goodnight, Miss Summers, goodnight, Severus," said Dumbledore before she shut the door.

Buffy was dead tired. Teaching her incredibly demanding classes and patrolling at night was beginning to catch up with her.

"Goodnight, Severus," she murmured before turning and leaving.


	11. Chapter 11

Severus Snape was walking through a crowd. Why was everyone in the potions classroom? There was loud music and people were dancing.

"What are you doing here?" he shouted at Neville, who was dancing with Hannah Abbot. "Are you out of your mind? Fifty points from Gryffindor!"

Neville pointedly ignored him and kept dancing. Severus was trying to push his way through the crowd, but it was getting more and more difficult. It looked like the whole school was there.

He looked to his left. Ugh, Nymphadora Tonks was sitting on that half-breed Lupin's lap, making out with him.

"Good god, man, show some dignity," snarled Severus.

"Like you should talk," somebody said with a barking laugh.

Severus noticed that Sirius Black was sitting behind Remus and Tonks with a lecherous grin on his face.

"You're dead," said Severus.

Sirius shrugged his narrow shoulders. "It's your dream, don't blame me." He laughed again. "Besides, you're the one having dirty thoughts about the Slayer."

Severus walked away, disgusted. The crowd was finally starting to part.

Minerva McGonagall was sitting at a table with Dumbledore, sipping tea. There was a cat sitting on the table.

Minerva waved at Severus with a slight smile on her face.

"Etes-vous prêt?**o**" she asked.

He noticed that she was holding hands with Dumbledore and was slightly nauseated by that.

"Merlin, Albus, you're what, 325 years-old? Quit that. And speak English," he said to Minerva.

"Vous savez parfaitement bien que vous parlez le français, autrement vous ne comprendriez pas ceci. En plus, c'est votre rêve. J'ai dit, êtes-vous sûr que vous êtes prêt?**o**" said Minerva.

"Start making sense or shut up," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

Dumbledore held out a tin and said, "Bonbon?**o**"

Severus sighed frustratedly and left Dumbledore and Minerva to their French and their candy and tea. He tried shouting over the noise for everyone to leave but the music just got louder every time he shouted.

He finally gave up and stormed into his office. Severus leaned against the door, closed his eyes, and massaged the bridge of his nose. Did it say something about his mental state that even his dreams were becoming a major pain in the ass? It was so fucking annoying, he just wished he could wake up. It was at this moment that Severus noticed a scraping noise.

In the dream, Severus opened his eyes. For the first time he noticed that he was in his private office, the one attached to his quarters, not the office attached to the classroom. Buffy was sprawled on the couch whittling a stake with a dagger.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, trying and failing to control his temper.

It wasn't enough that he had to put up with this bint in real life! She had to invade his dreams!

"You invited me," she said, fixing him with her stare.

"I did no such thing."

"You didn't ask with your mouth. You asked with your," she pointed at his heart with her stake. "Some new age nonsense, anyway. Crystals and potions. I'm not good at that stuff, I think we should leave that to Sybil."

Severus sat down. "What do I have to do to get you to leave? I just want to be alone, that's all I've ever wanted."

"No one wants to be alone," said Buffy. "Believe me."

"Can you stop doing that? You're getting shavings everywhere," said Severus.

Buffy shrugged. "You can just magic it away."

She tossed the stake she was carving aside, bent down, and ripped the leg off of his coffee table, and started to carve that.

"What are you doing? You come in here and just start tearing my things up! What is your problem?" he snarled.

"Maybe you need your things torn up!" she countered. "You know, this is quite phallic," Buffy said, glancing at the stake. "I penetrate things for a living. Is that what it feels like to be a man?"

"I wouldn't know."

"You're not a man?"

"It's been a very long time," he said softly.

"Well, who's fault is that?" said Buffy briskly. "You're the one who put up all these walls," she said, looking into his eyes. "You act like you hate me, but we're a lot alike. We're both alone. No one is ever going to be able to really understand either us. Now the question becomes, do you hate me or do you hate yourself?"

"I'm really not in the mood for this muggle psychoanalysis bullshit."

"What are you in the mood for?" she asked, taking her hand in his.

Severus laughed. "You're not trying to seduce me, are you? I'm twice your age and I'm really quite beyond sex, in case you haven't noticed."

"No one's beyond sex," said Buffy, "And I dated a 246 year-old vampire, so you lose on that count."

Buffy touched the side of his face with her other hand. "I learned an important lesson after my friends brought me back from the dead. There's a funny sentence," she laughed to herself. "When I first came back, everything was so painful and I was so angry. I lost myself in the pain. It got to the point where I may as well have just died again and I had to decide—was I going to embrace the pain and let it poison me or was I going to move on? What are you going to do, Severus Snape? Are you going to let the pain consume you or are you going to take down a barrier or two and actually live?"

"You have no right to tell me how to live my life."

"You're barely living it now. You eat and drink and move and talk, but what do you feel?" she moved her hand over his heart.

"Stop, now," he said. The blood pooling in his lower abdomen contradicted his words, though.

"Why?"

"Do you always have to be so contrary? You're infuriating."

"See, you're feeling something," Buffy said and lightly brushed his lips with hers.

Severus didn't resist. He found himself automatically kissing her back. Buffy wrapped her arms around him, her one hand stroked his hair. He pulled her closer to him and tentatively slipped his tongue between her lips. She didn't resist. God, it had been so long since he'd kissed a woman. Years, literally. He had just kind of turned off that part of himself.

They pulled apart. Buffy was flushed in what he thought was a very pleasing way.

"I'm a dangerous man," said Severus.

Buffy laughed. "Yeah, right, you're the real Big Bad. I'm sorry but you don't scare me."

He grabbed her roughly, frustrated. "You annoy me like few people have the power to."

"Did you ever stop to think that if you let yourself feel something positive you'd be less pissed at the world?"

This time he kissed her, to shut her up he rationalized. His tongue invaded her mouth, exploring, and she moaned softly. His hands were rubbing her back. Her sweater was black cashmere, soft, he noted. He could feel her bra clasp underneath the thin fabric. Buffy grabbed him harder and lightly bit his lower lip. Severus inhaled quickly, in surprise and arousal. She started kissing him along his jaw and neck. He was rapidly hardening and he found himself moaning under her ministrations.

"Do you feel that?" she whispered in his ear.

Severus grabbed her and pulled her onto his lap so she was straddling him. He kissed the line of her collarbone and ran one of his hands up the front of her sweater. She gasped as he ran his hand lightly over her breast, then he moved his hand under her sweater. He teased her nipple through her bra.

"Severus," she moaned and clenched her legs around him.

He chuckled. "You like that?"

She nodded.

"Take off your shirt," he demanded.

"You are so romantic," she said. "I'll take mine off if you take yours off."

She slowly peeled her sweater off. Severus couldn't help but stare as she sat topless on him. Her bra was pale pink and contrasted beautifully with her lightly tanned skin. She was evidently as turned on as he was, if her erect nipples were any indication. Buffy started to unbutton Severus's robes and took them off of him. Then she started on his shirt.

"Do you always wear so much clothes?" she asked as she took off his shirt and undershirt.

For the first time Severus felt self-conscious. He was hardly fat but he was definitely not in shape and he wasn't young. If Buffy felt that he was ugly she didn't say anything. Instead, she kissed him and pressed herself against him. Severus moaned as Buffy's hand drifted down his stomach, down to the waistband of his trousers. She undid the button and the zipper and slid his trousers down. Buffy slid her hand into his boxer shorts and gently handled his cock.

"God, Buffy," Severus moaned. He pressed himself into her hand.

She softly started to stroke his shaft.

"Fuck," he groaned again, louder. "It's been so long."

Her thumb found the head of his cock and lightly started to rub it.

"Buffy!" he shouted and then he came.

Severus Snape sat bolt upright in his bed. He was sweating. Where was he? As his breathing returned to normal and his eyes adjusted to the dark, Severus realized he was in his bedroom. The fire in the fireplace was burning low. He turned to the clock on his nightstand, which glowed when he touched it. It read 4:35. Damn, he would never get back to sleep now.

He laid back down and realized that he was wet. _What the fuck?_ He tentatively touched the sheets. He'd had a wet dream. Severus let out a little laugh. _What are you, sixteen?_ he asked himself.

What had he dreamt? He closed his eyes and tried to remember. Buffy! Him and Buffy, they had been, well there was no need to go over the events again, the evidence was in his bed. Where the hell had that dream come from? He felt mildly repulsed, yet still aroused.

Severus shivered in the cold as he slipped out of bed. He cast "_evenesco_" on his sheets and they were clean again. He decided that what he needed, more than anything else, was a cold shower. Icy.

The water pelted into Severus's flesh like hail. He drenched himself in the cold. He tried to calm himself down. _It was just an erotic dream, _he thought, _Everyone has them. _The fact that Buffy was in it was meaningless, she just happened to be an attractive female that he was working closely with at the moment. Yes, he could admit that she was attractive, if you were into that type. The incredibly beautiful, young blonde type.

_Remember Hogwarts, _he thought. Remember what young women are like. Remember the girl from his own house, the one that had asked him to Hogsmeade and then cracked up with her little gang when he actually showed up.

Severus stepped out of the shower, shivering. He briskly rubbed himself down and started to get dressed. It was very early Sunday morning, so he didn't feel the need to put on his teaching robes. For some reason this reminded his of his dream. "_Do you always wear so much clothes?_" Severus shuddered at the memory. Admittedly, the dream hadn't been unpleasant, just out of character.

Severus looked at himself in the mirror. Ancient black jumper and black trousers with a pair of black wool-lined slippers. He was highly doubtful that any students would see him like this, though he could stand to take away some House Points. A bitter smile flitted across his face. _Please let Potter be out of bounds so I can take points off and confiscate that invisibility cloak, _he thought. It was so typical that _that_ would be James Potter's legacy, something for troublemaking. Finally, Severus aimed his wand at his head and a blast of hot air instantly dried his hair. He didn't attempt to style it or make it look any nicer. It was what it was.

He left his room. A walk would do him good. Thirty minutes of wandering around the halls, then maybe he would attempt to go back to bed. He would sleep until breakfast and make an appearance there and no one would suspect that anything was amiss.

The halls were dim and he took solace in their emptiness. This was how he truly loved Hogwarts, empty, desolate, yet full of knowledge and secrets. Then why was he hearing another set of footsteps? Severus checked his wrist but he'd forgotten to put his watch on. He looked out the window. It was still dark outside of Hogwarts, with the barest hint of lightening steel-grey at the horizon. The steps were coming closer and closer, whoever it was wasn't bothering to conceal their presence. Probably didn't think any professors would be up. Severus smiled again as he concealed himself in the shadow of a pedestal with a large vase on it. The footsteps were getting louder, the person was walking past him.

"What exactly do you—" his words were cut off.

Severus found himself pinned to the wall. Just as suddenly, the person let go and actually jumped away.

Buffy was walking backwards from him, her face a mask of surprise.

"This would happen less if you quit lurking in the dark," she said, pulling her robe tighter around her.

Severus noticed she was wearing a pink bathrobe and slippers with pajamas that looked like they had pictures of sushi on them. Surely, his eyes were beginning to fail in the dim light, no one in their right mind would wear something so weird. He also noticed that her hair was wet, as if she'd showered recently.

"Wait, what are you doing out so late?" she asked suspiciously.

"What are you doing out so late?" he countered.

"I asked first," she folded her arms across her chest.

"I live here," said Severus. "I may come and go as I please."

"Well, so do I and so can I. Now that we've established that…"

"I have insomnia."

"So do I," she said, quickly. "But I think it's gone now," she said suddenly. "I'd better go, have a nice night," said Buffy as she backed away, then turned and practically ran from Severus.

_That girl is stranger and stranger, _thought Severus.

Buffy walked quickly back down the hall that she had come from. She looked back to make sure that he wasn't following her, and then slowed down.

What were the odds that _he_ would appear in her dream and then appear in real life? And appear in a dream like _that_. Buffy didn't want to know where a dream like that came from. She normally would have attributed it to eating taquitos before bed but Hogwarts didn't have taquitos.

Buffy sighed and shivered in the cold. It was probably just a coincidence. Severus was probably just looking for some out of bounds students to torment. At 4:30 in the morning.

That dream. It didn't do well to dwell on it. The idea of being that close to Severus Snape repulsed her…and secretly excited her.

_Way to go, Buffy,_ she chastised herself, _First you fall for Spike, then you might possibly begin to start having feelings for Snape. Snape. You're really into men that will treat you like crap, aren't you?_

Buffy had to admit that he was a very complex man and very interesting. She had made it to her room. She pulled a comb through her hair before crawling back into bed. Buffy pulled the blankets all around her and pulled the curtains shut in the hopes of trapping in some warmth.

Severus was damaged goods, that was sure. Anyone that puts up that many walls and barriers around themselves has to have been hurt, a lot. Or maybe he was just naturally a bastard. She began to drift off to sleep.

If she disliked him so much then why did she enjoy being kissed by him in the dream? _Don't think about the dream, _she thought. _Just forget. It means nothing_.

Buffy eventually drifted into a fitful sleep. She woke up again at ten and began to get dressed for breakfast. The day was cold and grey looking. The students in the Great Hall were subdued. The talk was mostly about quidditch—Gryffindor and Ravenclaw were having tryouts today. Buffy waved to Willow at the staff table. They had both been so busy teaching that they barely had time to talk and that made Buffy sad. She sat down next to Snape as usual.

_Be cool,_ she thought. _If you stay cool no one will no anything's amiss._

Buffy set about eating her usual breakfast and skimming _The Daily Prophet._ She absently reached for the jam and her hand brushed Severus's. They both jumped. Buffy made a soft squeaking noise.

Severus murmured, "Sorry," and they both yanked their hands away.

Buffy stared at him.

"What?" he said irritably.

"You apologized for something," Buffy said.

She realized with horror that he was starting to flush.

The tension of the moment was broken by an owl landing in front of Buffy. Buffy reached took the letter and it flew away. She wasn't familiar with the seal. She read;

"_Dear Miss Summers,_

_I would like to request your presence on a matter most urgent. Please meet me at my office at noon on the day you receive this._

_Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore"_

Buffy watched in amazement as the letter dissolved in her hand. She opened her mouth to gasp but stopped when she felt a hand on her arm.

"Don't act like anything's unusual," whispered Severus.

Buffy looked at him and nodded.

She finished breakfast and met Willow at the door to the Great Hall.

"You got a letter, too?" asked Willow.

"You noticed," said Buffy.

Willow nodded. "I wonder what it's about."

"Severus seemed to know what it was about," said Buffy.

"Maybe it has to do with Slaying. But then why would they want me?"

"Gee, maybe because of your super witchy skills and your super computer knowledge?" said Buffy.

"Why would Dumbledore need my computer skills? He has magic."

"Maybe he's having trouble setting up his scanner?" asked Buffy. "Want to watch the quidditch tryouts?"  
"Actually, yes," said Willow. "I've never seen quidditch before."

They spent the next hour watching Gryffindor's quidditch tryouts. Tryouts didn't normally garner a large audience, but students from all houses were watching, probably due to Harry Potter's celebrity. In fact, there was a group of Slytherins jeering. Hermione was sitting in the stands and waved at Buffy and Willow when she saw them approaching.

"Hi Professor Summers, hi Professor Rosenberg," said Hermione brightly. She was sitting with Neville and Luna.

"Hi Hermione, Neville, Luna," said Buffy.

"We've never seen quidditch before," said Willow. "We wanted to see what tryouts looked like."

Hermione nodded. "It doesn't look much like the game, frankly. But it's interesting watching them fly."

Hermione explained the game to Buffy and Willow while they watched the students fly. As the tryouts progressed the jeers from the group of Slytherins got louder.

"Are they always like that?" asked Willow, frowning.

Hermione sighed. "Quidditch has always been really important here, a little too important if you ask me. Anyway, Harry's the youngest person ever to make the team in a hundred years. He didn't even have a broom when he started, McGonagall bought him one. This naturally made a lot of people angry. In second year, Draco Malfoy bribed his way onto the Slytherin quidditch team by buying the whole team Nimbus 2001's."

Upon seeing the blank looks on Buffy and Willow's faces, Hermione explained, "They're top of the line quidditch brooms. Anyway, Slytherin keeps losing to Gryffindor, so that just makes the antagonism between the houses worse. In fifth year, Malfoy egged Harry, Fred, and George, those are Ron's brothers, on into a fight and they were suspended from quidditch for the year. Ron started playing as keeper that year and he gets really nervous under pressure, and the Slytherins were being really rotten. They made up a whole song that they would sing about him." Hermione sniffed indignantly. "Sometimes I think that things would be better at Hogwarts if quidditch were eliminated, especially now. The Houses need to be united now that Voldemort is back."

Willow pulled on Buffy's sleeve.

"Look what's happening!"

Harry was flying down to the stands. He dismounted and walked over to the Slytherins.

"Hey, Malfoy, tell your lot to shut up?"

"What, you mean us?" asked Draco. "You should be grateful for us, we're just giving you a prelude to what the games are going to be like."

By now most of the people in the stands had gathered around to hear the fight.

Buffy sighed. "I guess we should intervene."

Willow nodded and they both got up. By now the entire Gryffindor team plus hopefuls had dismounted and were standing behind Harry.

By the time Buffy and Willow arrived, Harry and Draco had drawn wands and were calculating which spells could do the most damage.

"I hope you're just practicing for my class," said Buffy softly.

Harry had the advantage of seeing Buffy approach but Draco was taken by surprise.

"I'm sorry, Professor Summers," he said simperingly, "Harry and I were just having a disagreement and he pulled his wand out. I know we're not supposed to duel but—"

Buffy cut him off. "Ok, you can stop there, I was watching the whole thing. You and your gang were being pretty obnoxious."

Seeing that sucking up wasn't working, Draco tried another tack. "We have a right to be here," he said belligerently.

"Look," said Harry, "I don't care if they're there or not, but the lot of them are making the people trying out nervous. They deserve a fair shot."

"Can you stay here and be quiet?" asked Buffy. "A lot of people are watching and none of them are catcalling. If you're going to keep this up, though, you may as well leave."

Draco mulled this over, then left, looking bitterly resentful. As he left he mumbled, "Wait until Professor Snape hears about this."

"I'm sure Professor Snape would agree with me," Buffy called back.

"Not bloody likely," said Harry but he was grinning. "Thanks for that, Professor Summers, Professor Rosenberg."

Buffy nodded. "They're probably going to be worse at the game but at least the kids trying out will be ok."

Harry nodded in agreement. "Ok everybody, break's over."

He blew his whistle and the team remounted.

"That was bracing. I think I agree with Hermione," said Willow.

Buffy checked her watch. "It's 11:30, we should start getting back for the thing…"

"Oh yes, the thing."

Buffy and Willow made their way out of the stands, waving at Hermione as they left. Most of the students were outside, enjoying one of the last nice days before autumn really set in. The castle was pretty empty as they went to Dumbledore's office.

"Come in," he said as they knocked on his office door.

"Hello, Headmaster," said Buffy and Willow.

"Hello, hello," he said. "Have a seat."

"I invited you here to talk to you about a matter of utmost importance. You are both aware of the return of Voldemort. When he first rose to power, I formed a group called the Order of the Phoenix, which was composed of members dedicated to vanquishing Voldemort. Since his return to power, I've reformed the Order. I've asked you here in order to invite you to join and fight Tom.

"Buffy, we need to coordinate your slaying with activities of the Order. Tom has allied himself with vampires, werewolves, inferi, and other dark creatures before. You are the best chance to protect the public from these creatures."

"Uhm, Headmaster, I understand why you've invited Buffy but I'm not sure why you've invited me," asked Willow.

"Well, Willow, aside from the fact that you're a very powerful witch, I have a special project for you. We obviously use magic for our record keeping. What we're focusing on now is finding Tom's base of operations. This is difficult because he keeps it cloaked and it moves. We need someone to access the muggle property databases and the wizarding databases and keep detailed records of probable locations. We plan to keep these records in magic books but we also want a copy on computer. Tom could crack the books if they ever fell into his hands but I think that the computer would flummox him. Willow, we want you to coordinate the computer and magical record keeping.

"Of course, you may both refuse. If you do, I must ask you to keep this meeting a secret."

Dumbledore tented his hands and looked at Willow and Buffy, waiting for their response.

"I can't speak for Willow," said Buffy, "But I would definitely like to join."

Willow nodded eagerly. "I'd like to join and help too."

"It's very dangerous," said Dumbledore. "We've had deaths during the first Order, and we've had deaths recently. Are you sure you're ready to face the dangers?"

"It doesn't sound much different than what we faced in Sunnydale," said Buffy.

Willow agreed, "Death, destruction, doom, that's pretty usual for us."

"That's part of why I hired you." He extended his hand. "Welcome to the Order of the Phoenix."

_I used an online translator for this bit, so I'm not sure how great the quality of the translation is. If anybody here speaks French and would like to clean it up a bit, please leave a message. For those who are curious, it should say, **o**"Are you ready?"_

**o**"You know perfectly well that you speak French, otherwise you wouldn't understand this. Besides, it's your dream. I said, are you sure you're ready?"

**o**"Candy?"


End file.
